Disclaimer:- I do not own BLEACH.

Thanks for the 280+ hits.

Okay, This chapter is pretty laid-back with a little drama at the end. The setting for all the interesting things about to happen in the future (of the story). Forgive the typos.

Ichigo was sitting in his office, thinking… cooking-up a new story for his friends, because 'Rukia works at Inoue's place' was not going to work this time, given that Inoue herself was one of his friend. 'Met at a bar' would be reasonable; and they won't be skeptical at all. He thought that fooling his dad and sisters was easy; that task was accomplished. Now was the real ordeal, deceiving his friends, which was going to be difficult since him and Rukia were going to spend a lot of time with them. Even the simplest of slip-up and they were doomed. He felt as if he was going to get grey hair with all the drama happening around him. Therefore, the obvious solution was to avoid thinking about it and handle everything as it comes. For the time being, he was going to enjoy his alone-time with Rukia to the fullest.

Everyone has some or the other kind of fixation, being a prostitute had taught Rukia that much. She always pondered whether Ichigo had any such fixation, since he never showed any signs of it during their previous sexual encounters. Her questions were answered in the most outrageous way. Ichigo did not have a single fetish; rather he loved to experiment with everything. They had tried almost all of the possible ways to have sex, on all possible surfaces. It was as if he turned into a sex-fiend overnight. She could not understand his hunger for her body. He would jump her any chance he got. Rukia however did not object, bearing in mind that she was getting more than she bargained for.

Rukia mused about their routine- get-up in the morning, some foreplay follows, have breakfast, a little bit of petting, hot shower, Ichigo goes to work (she does something around the house to pass her time), lunch, passing some time here and there again, Ichigo returns home, sex, sex, and some more sex. It was like they lived for only one thing- sex. It seems that the Gods of Sex had their grace on them.

Just sitting around doing nothing was not the way Rukia lived before, so why start now? She decided to do something productive like…cooking, after-all she was a fake chef. Maybe her cooking was not as great as Yuzu's, but it was edible, and that was satisfactory. She needed to go shopping for ingredients first, given that Ichigo's refrigerator was full of only fruits and microwave dinners. She took some money from her advance-payment and headed toward the nearby convenience store.

For the first time in her life, she was able to buy the expensive ingredients that she could not afford before. The prices of the simplest things were almost triple of what she used to pay; this after-all was a high-class neighbourhood. Rukia was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she did not notice a man approaching her with a very wicked grin.

"Mind telling me how you can afford this thing?" the man enquired looking over her shoulder, at the piece of high-priced steak she was holding.

To say that Rukia was shocked would be an understatement. She was terrified. The man was Grimmjow- one of her client. You would have to be crazy or evil to be associated with him.

"Grimmjow, what are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that question? What are you doing in this neighbourhood? Well any way, to answer your question- I live nearby." He said offhandedly. "…looks like you hit it big, sweetheart."

Rukia felt like puking for the sweetheart comment. She had to tread carefully when her challenger was Grimmjow.

"Fuck-off." Way to tread carefully.

"Wrong answer, sweetheart." Grimmjow sneered, twisting her hand behind her back. He only let go when the store-helper passed by them. Rukia's mind was racing, devising a plan to get out of his grasp. Before she could do anything, his phone beeped and he diverted his attention from her to the caller.

She checked her hand for any bruises. What was going to tell Ichigo if he saw it? Thankfully there was only a slight damage, nothing a little ice can't cure. He suddenly turned to her, kissed her forcefully and left with a promise to meet again.

A series of incidents shot through her mind- running away from the orphanage, getting molested to the point of rape, being dragged against her will to sell her body. Ugh! There was no point thinking about her past now. She better get a move on if she wanted to get the dinner on table before Ichigo gets home.

Somehow, Ichigo was not satisfied with his relation with Rukia. After two months of dating, Rukia managed to win everybody's heart and all of them accepted the fact that they were a real couple and nothing fishy was going on. His business associates however were still eager to form a permanent alliance by making a family union. In other words, they wanted him to marry their ugly daughters. Now 'breaking-up' with Rukia was not an option, because that would just intensify his problems. He needed a new plan and he needed it quick.

The solution to all his problems came in an unexpected way and from a very unexpected source. His father. He suggested that Ichigo should marry Rukia. Well, now that was outrageous. Nevertheless, his father made a point; if he was off the market no one would approach him. He just needed Rukia's consent.

Rukia could feel her heart breaking into pieces. Ichigo wanted to get engaged to her. Fake engagement, to be exact. She had no option but to accept, because she wanted the money to survive. After all this was done and over with, she was going to be the only one suffering with enormous heartache.

Rukia had to make her daily visit to the convenience store for their dinner. What she did not plan was bumping into an annoying person. Again. Grimmjow was waiting for her at the store. For the past month or so, he had been following her. She tried coming to store at a different time but he would always be there. Even though she avoided any conversation, she could make-out that he had a bone to pick with Ichigo from his remarks. He though that harassing Ichigo's girlfriend would work.

Rukia doesn't know how he got the wind of the issue, but he knew about her and Ichigo's deal. Furthermore, he was planning to use it against her. He fancied a deal of his own-Sleep with him again to keep his mouth shut or else there would be severe consequences.

Grimmjow was a vile man and she knew making an agreement with him would be a wise decision. Her heart however could not even imagine about the possibility of betraying Ichigo. When he saw that Rukia was not ready to comply, he smirked and told her that Ichigo was just using her and would throw her away after she has served the purpose.

As if that could ever happen, Ichigo would never do such a wicked thing with her.

She hoped he didn't.

youtubesam:- hmm… to some extent the start is similar but the story is completely different and this one will have a lot of drama later-on. You'll understand about Rukia when you read about her past in next chapters and flashback from this chapter. She was already a prostitute when Ichigo went to her, so she was not a virgin then. In addition, Ichigo is 'hiring her services' for two years, so they know each other pretty well. If you want to see Ichigo suffer, keep on reading.

xbleachfanx, princessdoll, falconrukichi, ashezo, ReaperDuckling thanks for your reviews.