Warning: This chapter contains sex, voilence and blood. Can't read about that, don't read this chapter. You've been warned.

When Rukia woke up that morning after her and Ichigo's love night she did not know where she was at first. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she looked around the room she was in. It took a while for her eyes to get used to the bright light that seeped in through the window.

When she got used enough to the light her memories began to come back to her. She now knew where she was: in Kurosaki Ichigo's room.

There was a wardrobe next to the white door that you did go through to get out of or in to the room, a brown desk that stood to her left and a big window to her right beside the bed she laid in. Through the window she could see that the sun was already high in the sky and she heard people who walked, biked and drove to work, school or wherever they were going this morning.

A sound next to her got Rukia to turn her gaze downward and the sight that greeted her was melting her heart and got a smile to form on her lips. Ichigo was lying with his eyes closed and his arm around her stomach while he was talking in his sleep. She could make out words like "no, not there", her name and something that she suspected was a laugh as he tried to tell her to stop with whatever it was that she was doing to him in his dream.

Rukia suspected that, given the smile that came and went in Ichigo's face and the little grunting sounds he was making, she was busy tickling him. She knew that Ichigo was very ticklish if you just knew where to look and where they lay, and she did not know how many times she had used that towards him to get him to do things that she wanted him to do for her or with her.

In the future, it would probably be enough that she just gave him a kiss and waved enough on her butt and Ichigo would completely lose his composure and drool like a dog if he just got his share of the pie later on when it was time to go to bed. Rukia would not have anything against it.

Not at all.

Quiet, not to wake Ichigo from his dream, Rukia crawled out of the bed and stretched her body to get out all the knots that had been formed there under the previous night. She was always stretching in the morning if she had slept in a strange pose the night before, because otherwise she knew that her body would protest and that she would not be able to do her work.

With a quick glance at Ichigo, mostly to ensure that he was still asleep, Rukia tiptoed out to the bathroom where she quietly closed the door behind her. Once she was safe from prying eyes, she started the shower and stood under the warm rays that swept away the last traces of dirt from her body.

It was this that Rukia loved most of all in the morning: being able to get a really hot shower to really get rid of all the dirt that she knew could put its claws into her while she slept. Given what she and Ichigo had done the night before, it was perhaps not surprising if she wanted to shower before she went out on yet another mission that Soul Society might hand out to her. She did not want to meet her colleagues in Soul Society with tousled hair and a faint smell of sex that surrounded her.

When she was almost finished with her shower, she heard a sound that came from Ichigo's room. At first she thought she had imagined it all and dismissed it, but soon she heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards her where she stood in the bathroom, naked in the shower.

The bathroom door opened and she heard someone come into the room.

She was just about to turn off the shower and reach for the towel that she had hung up next to the shower when the shower curtain slid aside and a new awaken, naked Ichigo appeared before her.

The look he gave her made it tingle throughout her body.

In his face was a mixture of tiredness and desire at the same moment he saw her wet, naked body appear before his eyes. He eyed her up and down slowly while he licked his could not help but laugh at Ichigo's facial expression. "Do you see something you like, Ichigo?" she asked, grinning teasingly at him.

Ichigo did not answer, but just kept grinning approvingly. He stepped into the shower with Rukia and looked at her before he put his arms around her waist. He pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss that made Rukia unbearably hot. She knew where Ichigo was going with this, but she did not care.

Every opportunity that could mean that she and Ichigo would be together was more than she could ask for. Rukia also knew that ever since yesterday she would not have to be concerned if Ichigo showed his desire against her in the strangest of places, as long as she was agreeing, she would with all her heart make love to him.

Soon the kiss turned hot and got both Ichigo and Rukia to gasp of effort. Rukia shuddered when she felt how Ichigo's tongue found its way in among her own and it seemed to eat her up from the inside. She could not help that a moan escaped her lips, but as far as she knew Ichigo liked it. He pushed her up against the shower wall and began to stroke her body with hungry hands.

Rukia pressed her body closer to Ichigo and thus asked him for more. Ichigo immediately understood the hint and began to stroke her crotch with his fingers. He could feel how she got wetter and wetter, which got Ichigo's desire to grow. Getting to feel Rukia shiver of pleasure under him made him crazy just from knowing that he could make her feel this good just by using his own body.

"Ichigo, take me..." Rukia's whisper interrupted Ichigo's thoughts and caused him to stop what he was doing.

He looked down at Rukia and saw in her face a desire which he had not seen before. It was as if their sex act the previous night had not been enough for Rukia, as far as Ichigo could understand.

Of course, he felt like he could never get enough of Rukia and her beautiful body. She was too beautiful for her own good; that was one thing that was for certain. If he could he would take her over and over again for the rest of his life.

"With pleasure, Rukia..." Ichigo licked his lips before he again joined them with Rukia's.

Without the slightest warning Ichigo lifted up Rukia's legs in the air and pressed himself into her with a force that got Rukia to moan loudly and bite her lip hard. Ichigo smirked playfully and began to move inside Rukia while he continued to kiss her with wild passion.

Rukia was not slow to keep up with Ichigo's pace and soon she could feel how Ichigo really filled all her with his penis. The feeling made her shake all over. Now that they both knew what the other sustained it was as if they were going to give everything, just to feel as much pleasure as possible.

"Ichigo, harder... harder!" Rukia yelled and pressed herself against Ichigo's body. She put her legs around Ichigo's hips and her arms around his neck, so that she could get as close as possible.

When Ichigo a few moments later fulfilled her wish, it was as if they melted and became one body. Both moaned loudly in each other's ears, which in turn got Ichigo and Rukia to shudder when they could feel the other's warm breathe against their skin.

"Yes... Yes..." Rukia felt how her innermost parts began to tighten, and she knew she was close.

Ichigo, who understood what was going on, pressed himself so deeply into Rukia as he could and took a hold around her hips so he could keep her still. That way he would be able to feel all her innermost parts fill him. He himself was near, and wanted to hear Rukia scream out his name as soon as his hot cum would fill her.

Rukia groaned aloud a few times before she with a scream came with such force that black spots danced before her eyes. She thought she would faint, but managed to stay awake for just the right amount of seconds to feel how Ichigo's warm cum filled her. It was like icing on the cake and she moaned out Ichigo's name with such passion that Ichigo thought he would come again immediately after the semen that now filled Rukia, flowed down from her legs and into the drain under them.

They panted and looked each other in the eyes before a smile appeared on their lips. In them they could read each other's feelings for the other and it got the two young lovers to feel perfect.

"Ichigo, you're incredible..." Rukia whispered and gave Ichigo a little kiss.

Ichigo laughed and rubbed his nose against Rukia's. "It is you who are so incredibly wonderful, Rukia."

Months went by and it did not go a day without Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia was together. Their love seemed to grow more and more for each time they saw each other. And every hour without the other, got their hearts to feel empty, as if something were missing them.

Otherwise, their lives continued as usual. Ichigo continued with his studies and Rukia with her job as an agent of the Soul Society where she continued to eradicate Hollows. Virtually all in Soul Society knew by now about their relationship, but no one had said straight out what they really thought about it. Especially not their Boss, Yamamoto. Rukia knew that as long as he personally did not came to her for a conversation about her relationship with a human, she and Ichigo would be safe for yet another day.

At the same time she also knew that at any moment it might burst. It would be enough that Yamamoto would tell her never to meet Ichigo again and then their relationship would be over. She would rather not think those thoughts, but they crept in here and there. If Yamamoto said something, it was precisely that, that would happen. It did not matter what it was.

Ichigo of course knew this as well, but he never talked to Rukia about it unless she herself brought it up. He knew how sad Rukia got by just thinking about it, so how wouldn't she feel if he "out of the blue" began to talk about it?

They instead tried to pretend like nothing and make the most of the time they had together, which for the both of them was the best thing that had ever happened. When they were together it was as if the sun always was shining and all the horrible things that had happened were a distant memory.

None of them could do without the other, and they both knew that. Should anything ever happen to the other, they would not be able to forgive themselves and move on, how much they had promised each other that they would do that if anything would happen.

It did not take long before a new threat came that would put their love on a serious test to see how much they really cared about the other.

Rukia had long heard of a very dangerous Hollow that no one had managed to capture, or even see much of, yet. The little they had on it was that it took the form of a white panther with black stripes, and which ruthlessly attacked the spirits which the Soul Society had not yet taken care of.

It always seemed to hone in on the most vulnerable, probably because they were the easiest prey. Especially children it seemed to like, since the Soul Society had received reports that many spirits from children had disappeared completely without any trace.

It called itself "Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow", something that most agents thought fit this Hollow good. The Hollow was both terrifying to look at with its blue eyes gleaming with hate, and sharp teeth just waiting to get a bite of its next prey, which might just be one of the agents of the Soul Society.

No one in the Soul Society knew where this Hollow came from. The only thing they almost certainly knew was that suddenly, after lying in some remote cave that they had not yet found, decided to get out into the daylight and put fear into people's hearts and spirits. Where this Hollow came from did not really matter. The only thing that mattered to the agents was to find this Grimmjow and eliminate him as quickly as possible.

Which this far had not been particularly successful.

Firstly, they had had trouble at all to find him when he appeared in Karakura Town, and second, Grimmjow had many times devoured his victim and just as fast as lightning disappeared back where he came from and where they could not find him, before they so much as had time to gather the forces that would be needed to eliminate Grimmjow.

Rukia was part of the crowd of men and women appointed to take care of and incapacitate Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, which had concerned Ichigo since the day he first heard about the "good news", as Rukia had said. He knew how dangerous Grimmjow was and that he was not like the other Hollows. Ichigo had at an early stage, when he had just heard of the Soul Society, seen a glimpse of a white panther with black stripes that curled around at night. Many good spirits as he had tried to help to the other side had disappeared every time he had seen the panther.

It had only been going on for a couple of weeks, and just as the agents of the Soul Society Ichigo had been having it difficult to locate this Hollow. He had been very close to him many times, and also had seen him attack spirits, but just as he was about to intervene, it was as if Grimmjow felt his presence and disappeared with its prey in the mouth, like a wild carnivore in the savannah.

Ichigo had not told anyone about his experiences with Grimmjow, but retained those for himself. Partly because at first he thought someone else had taken care of Grimmjow when he was smaller, the attacks had stopped after a few weeks. Now that Grimmjow was back, he did not want to worry Rukia; since he knew the danger she was in with the mission to eradicate him. Ichigo had promised himself that if he ever saw Grimmjow again, it was he who would ensure that the Hollow got his sentence.

One reason was because Ichigo wanted to avenge all of his friends. Many of the innocent spirits who had died so many years ago had been Ichigo's friends, and he still had feelings of guilt for not having done anything to stop Grimmjow with his butcher. He did not want more people to get in trouble; enough blood had been spilled by these savage Hollows lips.

Grimmjow was the devil himself among the entire Hollows. If you looked at the facts that Soul Society had managed to collect about him; Grimmjow was the same as a King to the Hollows. They obeyed him as the worst dog puppies, and some had even fought to the death, only because Grimmjow had told them to do so when he wanted some entertainment after dinner.

In recent days, they had noticed that Grimmjow had become much more cautious. Many thought it was because Rukia five days before had been nearby when Grimmjow had attacked another innocent soul and managed to give him a wound on the back.

Rukia had crept forward, while Grimmjow was in the process of putting an end to his prey. The moment she attacked Grimmjow had noticed her and jumped away, but not fast enough. Her sword had given him a lighter cut, which had only bled copiously, but there had been enough for Grimmjow to be much more cautious when he decided to visit Karakura Town in search for his next prey.

How many times Rukia had barked at herself because she had not been more careful and finished Grimmjow directly instead of just giving him a small wound, she did not know. If she'd just been a little faster, or waited till Grimmjow was as most vulnerable, she had been able to succeed, she knew it. She had been too hasty, and this had led to that now it would be even more difficult to eliminate Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow.

One day, which would prove to be the worst in both Kurosaki Ichigo's and Kuchiki Rukia's life's, another attack accoured. This time it was not a spirit that had been attacked, but an agent from the Soul Society. He was seriously injured, and no one knew if he would survive from his wounds.

The agent's name was Abarai Renji.

When the news reached Rukia, she was paralyzed with shock. Renji was so tough-minded and who almost never lost a battle, whether it was against a person or a Hollow. She just couldn't believe it, and certainly not that he was seriously injured. Not until she had seen it with her own eyes, she could believe it. And when she saw Renji it was as if her brain still wouldn't believe the facts that appeared before her eyes.

Renji was in his room with his eyes closed. All around his upper body a medic had wrapped a white bandage, and it were dried blood spots on it. As Rukia was told Renji had caught sight of Grimmjow when he sneaked around in Karakura in search of a new prey. Renji had followed him to a dark alley, where Grimmjow suddenly had disappeared. It was not until then that Renji realized he had gone straight into a trap.

Quickly, he turned around, only to just in time get to see how Grimmjow came toward him with outstretched claws and an evil grin on his face. Before Renji so much had time to lift his sword in defence, the claws had torn up a large wound in his chest. The blood had spurted, Renji had managed to extract a weak gasp of pain and seen how Grimmjow raised his clawed paw for a new outcome, when Renji somehow managed to throw himself back and knock over Grimmjow as he rolled out onto the street where someone could conceivably see him. It could give Renji a chance to get away before anyone could see him standing there, bleeding from a big hole in his chest.

A car had driven over Grimmjow before he managed to sit up, and left him with a broken leg. The last Renji remembered before everything turned black was that he had seen how Grimmjow attacked the man who sat in the car and cut off his throat before he disappeared without a trace.

Renji had been found not far after all of this had happened because people had discovered him and the dead man in the car. Quickly the Soul Society's agents had picked up Renji before the police came to ask a lot of questions that they could not answer, and took him back to the base where he could get the care he needed.

From what the paramedics had seen of Renji's wounds was that Grimmjow had been very close to ripping out Renji's guts, but that he could not make it since Renji had seen him in time. This resulted in that Grimmjow could not cling on to Renji's back and then rip him up entirely, as he probably had been planning to do from the beginning.

"Oh, Renji, why was I unable to eliminate Grimmjow when I had the chance? Then you would not need to lay here, seriously injured. What if you won't make it? I could never forgive myself..." Rukia felt the tears running down her cheeks and saw how they fell on Renji's face. He winched, but did not wake up.

Ichigo, who stood behind Rukia, put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. He understood Rukia's thoughts and feelings, as he himself had felt it many times before. How many times had he not wondered why he had not been able to save many of the spirits who came to him and asked for help? And every time he had felt equally guilty of their disappearances as Rukia now felt about Renji's accident.

Rukia turned around and put her arms around Ichigo, where she began to sob low so that Renji could not hear her, just in case he would wake up. She hated to show her weak side in front of others than Ichigo, since many saw her as a strong, confident woman who did not back off from anything. Rukia wanted to keep up that front, but sometimes, like now, it was very difficult.

Luckily, she and Ichigo were alone with Renji. Rukia had asked to be alone with Renji, but when Ichigo asked if he could come in, she had said yes with relief. She knew that she probably would break down when she saw Renji lying there on the bed, lifeless with his eyes closed.

Ichigo slowly rocked Rukia back and forth while he stroked her hair in an attempt to get her to calm down. After a while, that seemed to have lasted for ages, Rukia let go of him and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you, Ichigo. What would I do without you?"

Ichigo did not answer, but gave Rukia a small kiss on the mouth.

"You do understand that this means war, Ichigo? I will not rest until I with my own eyes can see Grimmjow die before me, with my sword that pierces his heart. I will not rest until I know for certain that he no longer exists on this earth and can hurt more people." Rukia looked up at Ichigo with such a glow in her eyes that Ichigo almost got afraid of Rukia.

Such a determination, he had never seen in her before. It was as if there was another person who took over Rukia's body and who now spoke with her voice, with her mouth. The feeling made Ichigo shudder inside.

"Rukia, are you sure it's so smart to just throw yourself into the beasts gap like that? You do not know what to expect behind them. It may even be... death." Ichigo shuddered again, but this time with his whole body.

"It's something I have to be prepared for. I have a mission to perform, whether I will come alive or dead out of it. You know that as well as I, Ichigo."

Ichigo sighed deeply and nodded. "Unfortunately, I do. I just don't want to lose you, Rukia. I do not know what to do if you were to disappear from my world."

"Ichigo, I will not go away. I promise you I will stay with you for as long as we possibly can. When my day comes, I will die with a smile on my face because I know I've been loved and received love back from someone. That's all I ever wanted, and now that I have had that wish, I can face death without the slightest remorse." Rukia smiled and gave Ichigo a kiss.

Later that day, specifically early evening, Rukia was out on patrol in the more shabby part of Karakura, where the criminals had their households. She had heard that there would be a powerful Hollow there that put fear into many of the criminals. Not that the Soul Society thought it was a problem in itself, it was just fair for those who had chose to go the "wrong" way, but their mission was to eliminate all Hollows that could create problems.

It did not matter what kind of people it was who was harassed.

So here she was, amidst a bunch of criminals homes in search of a Hollow which would be eliminated. The problem was that she had not yet seen any signs of a Hollow, though her radar told her that there was something supernatural in the vicinity.

She had a feeling of being watched by something, but wherever she looked, she could not see anything. Neither human nor Hollow. She knew that her mind was not deceiving her, for she had been around for so long that she knew that if her mind was telling something to her, it was best to be on her guard.

So, in this case it was someone who really watched her, someone she could not see. Not yet anyway, and it made her uncomfortable.

"I know you are here, somewhere... And I will find you." Rukia tiptoed her way along the walls and listened for sounds that would alert her if someone tried to attack her.

Nothing was heard except her own breathing and the sound of her shuffling feet in her ears seemed to echo a long way. No sooner had she had time to even think the thought before a sound made her stop in the middle of a step.

The sound of steps that came closer, and a couple of breaths that swept a smell of death with it.

Rukia turned around in time to see how a clawed paw came towards her. She managed to jump away but had to quickly block a new attack from the clawed paw with her arm, which immediately began to bleed.

Before her stood Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, the Hollow who had injured her best friend and now her. The Hollow as she had vowed to avenge Renji and all other innocent souls who had been devoured in this Hollows way.

Even if it would cause her, her death.

"I have waited a long time for you, Kuchiki Rukia. Now that you are finally here, I can not wait to put my teeth into your soul. It will be a pleasure to get to feel how your life force is slowly sucked out of you for each new bite I give you..." Grimmjow licked his lips and grinned so Rukia could see all the sharp teeth that this Hollow had made use of when he had slain his victims…

"I would love to see you try, Hollow!" was Rukia's answer before she raised her Sode no Shirayuki.

Its light made Grimmjow take a step back before he growled in anger. He was not going to let this miserable human who claimed to be an agent of the Soul Society, that he and his friends feared most of all, kill him. By killing this Kuchiki Rukia he would prove to all other Hollows that the Soul Society was not as strong as they said they were! They were just ordinary people who played God, nothing else...

Without warning Grimmjow flexed his muscles and took a giant leap towards the surprising Rukia. Before she could as much as blink, Grimmjow was over her. He scratched where he could, and was only a few millimetres from biting of her carotid artery, when Rukia managed to insert Sode no Shirayuki between the two of them, which resulted in that Grimmjow tasted cold steel instead of fresh, warm blood.

Rukia pushed Grimmjow aside and struck at him with her sword, but missed. She took a few faltering steps back and saw how Grimmjow watched every movement she made. He waited for her to make a mistake so he could kill her. But Rukia was not going to give up, not without a fight...

She looked around discreetly and got an idea that would prove to be doomed to fail as soon as it crossed her mind.

Rukia quickly turned around and started running longer in among all the houses. She soon got sight of a fire escape ladder as she began to climb on. When she ventured a quick glance down she noticed to her horror that Grimmjow climbed on the wall, rather than she that took the ladder, which she believed he would do. Now she realized that her plan had failed, and she saw no choice but to try to catch him.

Rukia let go of the ladder and quickly fell down. She thought she could roll around on the ground and then stand up before Grimmjow understood what she was trying to do, but he was smarter than she first thought. The moment she let go of the ladder, he jumped off the wall and pulled out his long claws before he gave her a blow in the temple.

Rukia saw stars and felt how she fell on something hard, which proved to be the ground. A sharp pain propagated along her back and mixed with the pain in her temple. She tried to rise, but one paw lay down on her chest and forced her down again.

The last thing she saw was Grimmjow's face that grinned mockingly at her. "You in the Soul Society think you can do whatever you want, Kuchiki Rukia. But I'll show you that if you decide to play God, he will punish you much worse than you could imagine…"

Rukia tried to keep the darkness that slowly washed over her away, but it seemed that the more she struggled, the faster it came to her.

Just as the darkness enveloped her she thought she heard a voice that sounded very familiar, call her name...

"Rukia! No, Rukia!"