I found it tough to write Ichigo's POV. I thought it would be easy, but it was hard to get the details right, so i gave up trying to keep him IC. Although I know what is gonna happen in the story, I find it hard to fit Ichigo into that frame. I'm so not happy with this chapter.

It was Monday morning. Ichigo had decided to shorten his trip and return early. He will be home in a matter of minutes. There wasn't any conversation between him and his family or friends regarding the incident on the night of the party, the only one he wanted to talk was Rukia. He tried calling Rukia but she didn't reply, maybe she is angry. Of course, she'll be angry, even he hated himself for his behaviour. Guilt was eating him from the inside out. He just hoped she was willing to accept his apology. He couldn't afford to lose her now that he knew why he acted like an ass. On that day, he acted out of jealousy. He could not bear the sight of her in someone else's arms. Nevertheless, the way he reacted was very inexcusable. He was forever going to regret it if Rukia didn't forgive him.

Ichigo reached home at 6:15AM and heard some noises coming from the kitchen, so he guessed Rukia was preparing breakfast as usual, however he was very disappointed to see Hanatarou fiddling with kitchen appliances instead of Rukia. Hanatarou visited once in a while from their main house to help Rukia in doing some cleaning and house-hold maintenance.

"Hey Hanatarou! Where's Rukia?" Ichigo asked anxiously.

"Maybe Rukia-sama is sleeping. I went to knock on the bedroom door but there was no answer." Hanatarou said fumbling with a kitchen towel.

Ichigo thought it was a good opportunity for him to wake-up and surprise Rukia. He went to the bedroom door and opened it slowly, careful not to awaken Rukia. However, when he entered the room there was no sign of Rukia. The only thing he found on the bed was a golden box. He went ahead and opened the box; it had a maroon tie and a note saying 'Happy Birthday Kurosaki-Sama'.

Yes, today was Ichigo's birthday. He felt very happy that Rukia remembered his birthday; at the same time, he felt something was amiss. Where was Rukia? When did she start calling him 'Kurosaki-sama'?

Then he started panicking. He opened her closet and the first thing he saw was a white envelope. He opened it to find money- ten grand to be exact- a few bills were crumpled and stood out from the clean crisp bill he had given her. The crumpled bills summed-up to be 500 bucks. He then rummaged through the closet and found her old clothes missing. What was going on? The only plausible explanation was that Rukia had left him without giving him a chance to apologize or even saying a goodbye.

Ichigo sat on the edge of his bed while clutching the tie in one hand and the money in other. He did not know how to interpret the situation. Where did she go? He called Inoue to ask if Rukia visited her. He even called Uryu and Chad. No one had any idea about where she could be. It's as if she disappeared from his life. He decided to visit their usual spot. She wasn't there, figures, if she was trying to get away from him, why would she be at her usual spot? He then went to the place where they first met and tried asking about her to her friend Momo-who was incredibly tight-lipped.

Maybe she pitied his plight or something, because she somehow seemed willing to share some information.

"Rukia came here on Sunday. She got a few…umm…customers. She seemed in a hurry, as if she wanted to make a lot of money in a very little time. When she left, she told me to take care and that we'll meet some day. I asked her what was going on, but she didn't answer. Can I ask what happened between you and Rukia, Kurosaki-san? She looked hurt and I haven't seen her so upset in my life, whatever happened must've been very big blow to affect her to this extent." Ichigo didn't respond, he just drove back home. Whatever Momo told him was a disaster.

Furthermore the package he was going to find when he came back home was going to be a catastrophe.

It was still dark, the sun yet to rise. Rukia was on the outskirts of town, she was headed towards her old orphanage. She remembered Ukitake-san. He was the only fatherly figure in her life and the person she truly respected. The only person who never let her down. The only person who never expected anything in return of his kindness. She was hoping that he'll once again pick her up from the streets and put a roof over her head.

A lot has changed around the place where she once lived. She was walking for almost three hours, her stiletto clad feet started to hurt. The view of a familiar park lifted her spirits. It was the very same park where she used to play with Renji and the others. Those were the good times. Renji, she hadn't talked to him in ages, not after she ran away from the orphanage. She kept on walking until she reached the familiar sight of a small house across the street with a homey feeling.

It was early and there was no traffic on the streets, so she started crossing the road without paying attention to her sides. Rukia was so caught-up in her musing that she did not notice a car speeding in her direction, nor did she notice her heel getting stuck in the drain cover on the side-walk (she really has to stop zoning out). As she fell backward, she heard the screeching of tires along with immense pain in her entire body. The only thought running through her mind was that now she had a lot of physical pain to go along with her emotional pain.

If only the physical pain could numb the pain in the heart.

This is the last time when Rukia gets hurt (physically or emotionally), from here on it's Ichigo's turn. I excluded the part about the 'package' since it would've dragged on. The next chapter reveals the mystery of the package.

Keep on reading and reviewing.