Author's Note: I'm so so so sorry that it took me a while to update! I've just been really really really busy lately and yeah. Anyway, thank you once again everyone for the reviews and thank you for reading! This chapter's going to be a bit short. Sorry about that. Anyway, here it is! Enjoy!

Chapter 8

The next two days were the same for Rukia. She had absolutely nothing to do and just continued with her explorations once again around the manor. She helped out in the kitchen and with cleaning every once in a while and hung around with Renji whenever she saw him. The past two days has also been the same for Byakuya-sama. He wakes up, eats, gets dressed, goes to work, comes home, has dinner, and then locks himself in his office until late at night. Rukia still wondered to herself if things were always going to be this way.

When Byakuya-sama came home that night, he just had dinner and went straight to his office after. After putting away his dishes, Rukia followed. When she entered his office she saw him typing away in his laptop and noticed piles of papers on his desk. 'Finally, something for me to do.' she said to herself. She walked towards his desk and bowed to him.

"I need you to put these papers away in the cabinet." he said, his voice sounding coarse and odd. He coughed a bit after talking.

"Yes, Byakuya-sama. Have you taken your medication though?" Rukia asked softly. The past two days have made Byakuya-sama worse. Rukia noticed some changes in him, like how he's been looking very tired lately and how his coughing got worse. He really was sick but he just won't take a break.

"Yes." was all he said without even looking at her. He just continued on with typing. Rukia knew he was lying because he's supposed to take it after breakfast and dinner, but she's never seen him take it once. The bottle of pills was always on his desk, unopened. The plastic wrapping was still on the lid. She was getting worried because he wasn't taking care of himself. She knew it wasn't anything severe, and that it was just a cold, but if he keeps on pushing himself too hard he might just burn out. Of course though, no one ever defies him or tells him what to do, so Rukia just let it be and picked up the pile of papers on his desk and proceeded to the cabinet at the corner of the room.

A few minutes have passed and all that Rukia could hear was the taps on the keyboard and Byakuya-sama's coughing. She just continued on with putting away the papers when all of a sudden she heard a thud. She turned around and saw books on the floor beside his desk. She saw Byakuya-sama's face and immediately turned around again, scared of his expression. He looked very frustrated. He was annoyed that he couldn't function properly due to his sickness. He didn't even bother to pick up the books he dropped. Rukia turned around again and saw that the books were still on the floor. She dropped what she was doing and went to pick up the books. When she put them on his desk, she saw that his face was buried in his arms on the desk.

"Um, Byakuya-sama?" Rukia started, trying to see if he was asleep. He just grunted to her in response, with his head still buried in his arms. "It's a little bit early, but I think you should take a rest and sleep." she continued. She just looked at him, trying to see if he was going to respond. He finally looked up to her and gazed into her eyes. What he said next was something she didn't expect.

"Don't look at me with those eyes... I get mesmerized each time."

His expression was serious, yet sincere, but his eyes also looked very tired. Rukia blushed deeply and turned around after he said this. 'Is he serious?' she asked herself, and tried her best to calm down. When she turned around once again to face him, she saw that his head was once again rested down on his arms. 'Maybe he was just sleep talking! That's right, he doesn't know what he's saying! It's just fatigue.' Rukia reassured herself, embarrassed by what Byakuya-sama said. He looked really tired and so she decided that she would force him to sleep on his bed.

"Byakuya-sama..." she whispered to him. "Byakuya-sama... I think you should move to your bedroom." she added.

He sat up this time, and coughed. His face was very flushed and he was sweating a little. When he got up, he stumbled a little but Rukia held out one hand to his chest and one hand to his arm to keep him steady. He he grabbed onto her wrist. The one that was placed on his chest, and sat back down. He pulled her towards him, and rested his head on her chest. His one hand still held onto her wrist tightly while the other was placed on her back, pulling her closer.

Out of shock, Rukia raised her voice a little. "Bya-Byakuya-sama?!" she exclaimed. She was blushing deeply and she didn't know what to do. Thoughts were running in her head. 'Do I try to turn away?! What if someone sees us?!!!' her thoughts screamed. She was about to protest to him and his actions when he spoke all of a sudden.

"Please, let me stay like this... Rukia..." he said with a coarse whisper. "I'm very tired..." he added, and coughed a bit. Rukia blushed even deeper. That was the very first time he ever said her name, and he said it so softly too. Rukia sighed inwardly and calmed down a bit. 'Well, he did say please.' she said to herself. She then placed her free hand on his hair and stroked it. She knew that this method usually helped people to relax. She remembered how soothing the feeling was when her mother used stroke her hair to calm her down.

"Thank you." he said tiredly and then closed his eyes. Rukia could tell that he was now fast asleep because his breathing became steady. But she wondered to herself if they were going to stay like this the entire night. 'He's obviously deep asleep now. I can't wake him up.' she said to herself, and just continued to stroke his hair.

Later that night...

Rukia didn't know what time it was at the moment, but she was sure it was very late. She was now also starting to fall asleep, but she knew she couldn't because Byakuya-sama was still resting on her chest. She was tired from standing, and tried to adjust herself so that she could lean on the desk instead of just standing on her own. She felt Byakuya-sama's head shift a little and tried to keep it in place. She successfully reached the desk and leaned her side a little to it. She sighed to herself once again. 'Byakuya-sama is usually so cold and distant, but today he acted so oddly. He was so needy. Is he usually like this when he's sick? I hope he doesn't remember what happened though.' she thought to herself. She smiled a little bit too at the thought, and closed her eyes. She couldn't stand to keep them open anymore.

Rukia wondered if she really could fall asleep in her position. She barely had any support besides leaning her side against the desk, but she couldn't stand to be awake anymore. Her eyes were closed and her thoughts started to fade. A second later, her breathing became steady too, and she was now also asleep. Her hand still rested on Byakuya-sama's hair and his head still rested on her chest.

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Byakuya-sama awoke as soon as Rukia fell asleep. His head was spinning, and he felt very hot. He now admitted to himself that he was sick and needed rest. 'I should have taken my medication.' he said to himself. He moved his head and looked up. He saw his maid's sleeping face and realized the position they were in. He noticed that one of his hands held onto her wrist while the other was placed on her lower back. He felt her hand on the back of his neck and she was just leaning her hip on his desk. 'What happened?' he asked himself. 'I don't remember anything at all since dinner. And... why is she sleeping that way?' he wondered. He checked the time on his laptop, it was still turned on and it was just beside Rukia's leaning figure. 2:40 am. 'Was I asleep for a while? Did she take care of me?' He continued to ask himself questions but realized that he couldn't find any answers. He let go of her wrist but kept his other hand on her back to keep her balanced. She was fast asleep and he didn't want to wake her. He continued to watch her sleeping face and remembered bits of his dream...

He was standing in the gardens with the scent of cherry blossoms surrounding him. He hears a soft voice calling his name and he turns to where the caller was. It was Rukia. She looked at him with those dazzling eyes again, and he was mesmerized by it. She smiles at him excitedly and he smiles back. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, but it felt good...

That was all that he remembered from his dream. It was an odd dream, but it made him feel good. He felt Rukia shift a bit, and it looked like she couldn't keep that sleeping position anymore. He decided that she needed to lie down somewhere and carried her bridal style. He exited his office with her still in his arms. 'I don't know where her room is...' he thought to himself. He then just decided to bring her to his room. After carrying her in, he placed her on his bed, and heard her whisper something.

"Why did you die...?" was what she whispered and the rest were mumbled. It was obvious that she was dreaming about something. Byakuya-sama was a bit surprised at the question but just let her be and headed back to his office. He rested his head on his desk, and once again fell asleep there...