Thanks for the 2400+ hits.

I'm still on vacation and found some time to update the story, I didn't get too much time to read it, so it might be a bit detached. I'll correct and reload it once I return from my vacation. For now here it goes…

(I used some bits and parts of the fluff chapter for flashback)

Ichigo turned to his side, his eyelids fluttering.

Ichigo woke up to a smell of burning waffles. It appears that, she still hasn't gotten the hang of the waffle-maker. He groaned when he remembered last night's fiasco.

When he came home from work, the whole house was filled with the smell of burning food. Everything was turned to charcoal or maybe even carbon in it's purest form. He could only make out that it was food because of the fact that it was in pots and pans and still being obliterated over the stove. Perhaps after a few moments the utensils will be set ablaze and melt away.

He went next to Rukia, who was about to burst in tears. For once, he pitied her instead of mocking her for her lack of culinary skills.

"Rukia I think we should order out." He said uncertainly. She just nodded her head and walked out of the kitchen with her head hung low. No scathing retort? Now that was dangerous. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.

"Let's cook." He received another nod.

Both of them salvaged whatever was left of the cooking ingredients/utensils and started cooking. He studied that she was not a bad cook, instead the cooking gadgets- the microwave, the modern stove, the oven, etc had baffled her. Once he showed her how to operate them; she was all ready and set to cook. While cooking, she absentmindedly admitted that she never had the luxury of all those things- neither the ingredients, nor the appliances. Ichigo felt a twinge of pain in his heart when he heard Rukia admit about her miserable life.

The food tasted excellent. It wasn't too fussy; just simple homey food. As soon as he complimented her on her cooking, there was a genuine smile on her face. She continued to cook for him-breakfast and dinner, while he skipped lunch most of the times. There were still some cases of carbonized food, but that was only because she left for a bath and forgot to turn off the oven.

One Sunday they decided to experiment with food…No…not kind of experimentation you perverts. They were trying to make something spicy, like chicken curry. At some point, it turned into a food-fight or an ingredient-fight to be exact. Both were chucking things (onions, coriander stalks, curry leaves, spices, chillies, and so on) at each other. Ichigo dived towards her to overpower her with mere strength and ended-up pushing her back onto the cooking platform. He registered a slight sizzling sound along with the smell of burning flesh.

Rukia felt a stinging sensation on her palm. Before she could react, she was jerked away from the platform and her palm was held under the flowing faucet, Ichigo then applied some ice to the sore area.

Ichigo could not believe what he had done. In his giddiness, he had hurt her. She refused to go to the doctor, he dragged her anyway. Now they were back home and he was sitting on the couch, sulking. Rukia was glaring at him.

"Hey look I'm sorry. I didn't mea—Smack. Rukia smacked him right in his face.

"Shut-up you moron. It wasn't your fault idiot. It was an accident you stupid man." She yelled out in a single breath. She raised her hand towards him. He waited for the second smack, instead she just pulled him into a hug and whispered 'you are an idiot' in his ear. Ichigo's heart soared, at that very moment he recognized the feeling that there was something about her that was going to bind him to her. He laid his head on her lap, her uninjured hand moving softly through his hair.

A memory of a recent event with her, in form of dream. Ichigo growled sitting up in his hotel bed. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing it was her hand running through his hair. He now had to face a bigger predicament that the dream made him realize about Rukia- A woman he hired to be his girlfriend, the woman, who made him happy and feel at ease- the realization of him being in love with her.

He picked his phone and speed-dialed her number. No answer. He groaned once again and fell back on his bed, forgetting about the meeting he had to attend.

It was Sunday night; Rukia was standing in front of the main gates that led to Ichigo's mansion. Grimmjow paid her and dropped her here after he satisfied his carnal desire.

Once she entered the mansion she went straight to the bedroom. She took the money from her closet and added her recent earnings to it, noticing how her crumpled bills looked grimy compared to the clean and crisp bills Ichigo had given her. The contrast was suitable for them too; her all grimy and soiled, him all clean and untainted.

She then took out the golden-coloured gift box. After a lot of thought, she decided on her message, scribbled it on a piece of paper and placed it inside the box with the gift. She expected him to get the gift when he returned from his trip on Monday evening. Finally, she laid the box on the bed, took her bag and left the house.

Once outside, she dumped her phone in the dumpster without going through a ton of missed calls and disappeared into the shadows.

ashezo:- good guess, but she is going someplace where she already knows a few people. Any guesses?

Thanks to ReaperDuckling, Aizawa Ayumu, xdayanarax, novicestar, youtubesam, ashezo and kejora for the reviews

Ichigo's torture starts from the next chapter, so keep on reading and reviewing.