Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for standing by and for being patient. Yeah, once again I've been busy and I have had very little chance to write. This chapter is a bit messy so please bear with me. Once again, thanks for the support and thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Rukia awoke the next morning not knowing where she was. She looked around the room and was amazed by the extravagance of it. It was a big room with paintings on the walls, and outside the window was the most beautiful view of the garden. Rukia for a second thought that she must have still been dreaming, and was still in a daze. She rubbed her eyes gently, and realized that that it was not a dream. She got off the bed right away and thoughts started to hammer her head. 'Where am I!' she thought. 'This isn't my room! Whose room is this!' she asked herself, a little frantic. Then she remembered the events of the previous night. 'Okay, Byakuya-sama was sick and I took care of him.' she thought to herself first, recalling the night, with a blush creeping up on her face. 'He uh... he fell asleep using my chest to rest his head, and I also fell asleep later on. But what am I doing here!' she asked herself, still frantic, and still blushing. She doesn't remember ever leaving Byakuya-sama's office.

She left the room in search of answers and saw that she was in Byakuya-sama's hallway. She was shocked by the fact that she was asleep in his bedroom and she wondered how she ended up there. 'I've gotta look for Byakuya-sama.' she told herself and entered his office right away without knocking. He was in there, sitting at his desk, reading a book. He looked up as soon as he saw a figure walk in.

"Byakuya-sama, why was I asleep in your bed and why are you here! You should be resting!" Rukia exclaimed. She then realized that she was showing disrespect and covered her mouth with her hands.

"I brought you to my bedroom because you fell asleep in my office. I am here, because you occupied my bedroom, and I have already rested." He replied, looking indifferent. His voice was still hoarse though of course.

"I'm very sorry Byakuya-sama, I didn't mean to sound disrespectful. I was just shocked, and I... I'm disappointed in myself for not taking care of you..." Rukia said softly, still embarrassed about her outburst.

Rukia's eyes were downcast while Byakuya-sama was looking at her. It was silent for a moment until he asked, "Last night... what happened last night?" Rukia looked up at this question, her face turning pink once again. "How did you fall asleep in here?" he continued.

"Um..." Rukia started, letting her eyes look down again. "You were sick Byakuya-sama, and you were very tired. I tried to help you to your bedroom, but you could barely stand up. You just sat back down on that chair and umm... you... you rested your head on my chest. After a while, I started to feel sleepy, and I guess I fell asleep in that position." Rukia replied, blushing furiously after struggling to explain what happened, and she of course, also edited out some parts. She tried to hide her embarrassment, but the color of her face was too obvious to miss.

"Oh." Byakuya-sama replied. "When I woke up, you were asleep, so I carried you to my bedroom. I came back in here after." he continued. His expression wasn't really cold anymore. There was a hint of softness there.

Rukia looked up and their gazes met. Her eyes were kind to him, and his eyes were fierce, yet welcoming. "Are you feeling better?" she asked him, with concern in her voice. "Yes." he replied, and silence filled the room again. Their gazes were still connected for a moment until he looked back down to his book. "You should go back to your room and refresh yourself. Come back when you're done." he said to her, and she bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

'What is this feeling?' Byakuya-sama asked himself. 'Why does her gaze always get me mesmerized...'

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Rukia headed back to her room at the servants' quarters, and after taking a shower, she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. After grabbing some food, she headed over to the dining room and saw Renji sitting there, drinking.

"Hey!" he said, as she sat down across from him. "Where were you last night? The guys and I were hanging around, and Hanatarou said he would go get you from your room, but you weren't there." he asked her, with a little hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Ah, Byakuya-sama made me stay late because I had to organize papers in his library." Rukia lied, and then tried to shift the conversation away from that subject. "So... why are you here? Don't you ever work?" she asked him this time, perhaps trying to get on his nerves.

"Jeez, just because you don't see me work, doesn't mean I don't do anything. Later on I'll be in working mode, going to Kuchiki Corp to pick up some stuff for Byakuya-sama. He's not going to work today you know." Renji replied, sounding a bit irritated from Rukia's accusations.

"Wait, he's not going to work?" she asked, a bit nervous at the fact that she'll have to be around Byakuya-sama the entire day. Things were still a little bit awkward due to the previous night.

"Nope, he told me a while ago. He's sick. You should know that by now." Renji said. "Anyway, he said that I should bring you with me so that you'd at least see what the company was like." he continued. "You can't wear your house uniform though. You gotta wear something more professional than that."

"Wiat, I'm coming with you! Byakuya-sama never told me anything!" Rukia exclaimed, feeling a bit excited that she was going to be able to see inside Kuchiki Corp, and also relieved that she didn't have to be around Byakuya-sama the entire day. But she was a bit worried though, that no one will be able to take care of him.

"Uh, yeah. I think he's going to tell you about it after you report to him, so go to him as soon as you finish eating. We have to leave in an hour." Renji replied. "I'll meet you at the servant's entrance then. See you later." He said, then got up and left the room.

Rukia finished eating as soon as Renji left and headed over to the Nobles' mansion. She walked briskly to Byakuya-sama's office and tapped on the door as soon as she arrived. When she heard "Enter." from him, she went inside and bowed to him. It seemed to Rukia that things were back to the way it was. It wasn't as awkward anymore. It was just the usual.

He looked up from his book and said, "You'll be going with Renji to Kuchiki Corp to pick up some files for me." He took a piece of paper with some writing on it, stood up, and went over to Rukia. He stood in front of her and handed her the paper. On it was a list of names and beside it were numbers. Rukia didn't understand at all what it was for. Byakuya-sama leaned down, his face near hers and looked at the paper she was holding.

"On the left side are names of the workers there. Beside each name is a file number." he pointed out. "You have to tell them what the file number is and pick it up for me. I need these to be brought back today, so don't take too long. " He told her, and then looked into her eyes. His face was so close to hers. Rukia was a bit surprised at how close he was. He stepped away right after realizing their closeness, and Rukia noticed color staining his cheeks.

She tried to cover up their embarrassment by breaking the short silence. "Um... will that be all Byakuya-sama?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied, and sat back down on his chair and started reading. Rukia didn't want to leave yet. She wanted to make sure that he was going to be okay. She wanted to make sure that he was going to be taken care of while he was sick.

"Byakuya-sama... will you be alright?" she asked him. He looked up for a second. "Yes, I'll be alright by myself." he replied. "Um... okay... just make sure you drink your medicine and sleep some more. That should make you feel better." she said, and smiled. She bowed after and left the office. Byakuya-sama could barely understand what he was reading, because something (or someone) else was on his mind...

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After getting dressed, Rukia headed over to the servant's entrance. She was wearing a short-sleeved white fitted dress shirt that had a little puff on the sleeves and a dark purple pencil skirt. She also wore black open-toed sandals and carried a small silver purse, where the paper that Byakuya-sama gave her was.

She waited there a few minutes until she saw a figure closing in. It was Renji, and he looked very different, but it was only because she was wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath and a black tie. He also wore polished black dress shoes and wore sunglasses over his head.

"You look like a hitman, Renji-san!" Rukia giggled. She also realized that he even looked more dangerous because of his hairstyle and his tattoos.

"Yeah, thanks for the greeting." he replied sarcastically.

"I was just joking! You look good!" said Rukia, trying to make up for the previous comment.

"Really?" Renji asked, sounding flattered. "You look good too." he said after, then blushed a little. "And uh... you don't have to put honorifics after saying my name. We're friends, so just call me by my name alone."

Rukia laughed. "Okay, Renji it is then! And you don't have to be so polite!" Rukia replied. "Just call me by my name too, since it's only fair." she said.

Renji blushed even deeper at her reply, and turned to the entrance. "Okay then, follow me, we'll be taking one of the cars." he said to her, with his back facing her.

Rukia followed him outside and they went to an area in the manor she's never been to. It was all the way in the back, even behind the Nobles' mansion, so she's never seen the place before. There was a gate, and Renji opened it. "Sorry we had to take the outside passage. It's just because we're not allowed to be dressed like this if we're passing through the inside of the Nobles' mansion." he said to her. Rukia didn't even care. She was just shocked as to how big the place was. When they entered the gate, there were a bunch of cars parked there.

"I guess we'll take the sports car." Renji said, and led her to the end, where there was a dark blue sports car.

"Does Byakuya-sama own all of this!" Rukia asked him, still in shock. Each car looked pretty expensive.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. They're all his. He likes variation you know." Renji replied. He then headed over to another gate, opened it up, and hopped into the car. "Get in." He told her, and she did. They drove off to the gate that Renji just opnened, and after passing the gate, Renji stopped the car and got off. He closed the gates and locked it, then went back into the car and they drove off. For a few minutes, they were surrounded by forest only, and then ended up on a road near the highway.

"Does Byakuya-sama own the forest too?" Rukia asked, just wanting to know if he really does.

"Umm, yeah, he does. All of that land is his family's. Besides, having a forest hides that side of the manor. Byakuya-sama doesn't really like showing off his car collection." Renji replied, looking comfortable while driving.

Rukia sweat dropped at this and just sat back on her seat. Kuchiki Corp wasn't that far from the manor, and after just twenty minutes, they were there, in the heart of the city, where the tall building stood. Renji told her to wait in the lobby while he parked and she was pretty nervous about being there. It was her first time being surrounded by such people after all...