Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. Title of owner goes to 久保 帯人. :3 Nor do I own anything related to the Hana Yori Dango drama or manga.

AN: You know I wish I could just send a box of chocolates or whatever treat to my reviewers for being so awesome! I guess I can just send it digitally. (sends chocos and candies) This chapter is overdue but I put it off because well, I've been busy trying to do as much school work as possible before I head off to Bleach's country of origin. Yes, Japan. I'm leaving on October 8th and won't be back in the states until the 17th. I'm hoping that perhaps I can release chapter 10 before I leave, but no promises.

And whoa, the last chapter had the most reviews I've gotten for one chapter! You all coming out from the woodwork? :D Well as some of you who know the HYD story line, there's the elevator scene and you were expecting it. But, I decided to change it up a bit and not include the elevator scene but something a little more different and a little more... serious, I guess? I initially wanted to write the elevator scene but yeah...

Some replies to reviewers:

polarissakura: This is first and foremost, an AU story. So yeah, the OOC is expected... I really have no intention of changing the storyline either.

Miichiya Mikan: I don't know if I'll make Byakushi nice, lol. As for Hisana... hmm, there's still the future. There's no elevator scene but I don't regard what I wrote instead as that funny so... hopefully it's okay, haha.

Hail the Wolves: Quite forceful there, aren't ya? XD Heh, well I don't want to be tied down to my chair so here, here, take this chapter!

Many thanks to those who reviewed regardless of what chapter it was! DAISUKI DA YO or I LOVE YOU. :D

And (gasp) no Japanese phrases to know in this one! xD

Yosh! よろしくお願いします！

Chapter 9

Ichigo was among the frenzy crowd of people taking cover from the rain but he stood there alone in utter astonishment watching Rukia. He was torn between leaving the scene and probably feel as much shame later for running away, or have her be aware of his presence and see what would happen next. He gulped and walked a few steps forward, not sure if Rukia would see him or not. Her face was covered with stringy strands of her hair. Ichigo had to admit it was a pathetic sight to see her like this.

She still did not notice him walk over and stop barely a few feet in front of her until he spoke. "Um... hey." He greeted monotonously.

At the sound of his voice, Rukia slowly lifted her head and sent a deathly glare his way as if he were in trouble.

"Ichigo." She hissed his name menacingly and stood up to stagger toward him with arms out as if she were going to strangle him. Before Ichigo could react, Rukia raised her arms and took a hold of him around his torso. He yelped in surprise. Due to the force of her body against his, Ichigo's grip of the umbrella slipped and it dropped to the ground.

Rukia buried her head in the dry fabric of Ichigo's jacket while he stood there aghast with raindrops starting to wet his clothes. He could feel her wet clothes slowly soaking his own clothes as she shuddered uncontrollably against him. "I'm c-c-c-cold." She told him through chattering teeth.

Ichigo realized how they must have looked in the public like that and thoroughly embarrassed, wriggled himself out of her grip. He quickly picked up his umbrella to shield them both from the rain while trying to keep his distance far from Rukia as he possibly could without the rain falling on her. "Sheesh, holding on to me like that in front of people. They'll get the wrong idea." He commented.

"Whatever." She retorted and encircled her arms around herself, teeth still chattering together. "I thought you had gotten in trouble or something but I'm glad you're safe." Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise at her remark. "But why the hell are you so late? You better give me a good reason or I swear I'll kick you right now."

Ichigo scoffed at her threat and rolled his eyes. "Since when did I say I would go? You never gave me a chance to actually answer your request. I never agreed with you in the first place." He shot back.

"But I told you to go and that requires no 'yes' or 'no' answer." Rukia argued. Something liquid-like slid down from her nose, but she ignored it by swiping it away with her wet sleeve. Albeit that made her upper lip more wet with rainwater. "So whether you like it or not, you are bound by my word to be here." She continued.

Ichigo could not believe where this was going. She was making no sense to him at all by being downright bossy. "You've got some nerve thinking like that. Look," He changed subjects quickly in an effort to end this, "I only came to see if you were actually here and of course, you are. So we've wasted enough of each other's time so I say now we can both go our separate ways."

He nodded in conclusion. "I'm going home now and you should too since you're soaked. Find shelter or something before your chauffeur arrives." Ichigo turned in the opposite direction away from Rukia and walked off, taking his umbrella away with him.

"Wait! Hey, you baka, wait!" Rukia called after him but Ichigo continued in his stride. "Wait, you-ACHOO! Ah-ah-ACHOO!"

Hearing her sneeze uncontrollably, Ichigo stopped when he felt uncontrollable guilt come crashing it's way back into his mind. He cursed his own conscience. He turned around to see her kneeling on the wet pavement. How could he not pity her?

As futile as it was, Rukia rubbed her arms for warmth. "Ah, this can't be good." Another sneeze. "I'm so cold." Suddenly the rain stopped falling on her from above and she looked up to see an umbrella covering her overhead.

Ichigo knelt down next to her as he held the umbrella over her yet again. "I guess this would be a good time for some hot tea." He said quite reluctantly.

Rukia smirked in satisfaction and stood up, arms still crossed and continuously rubbed for warmth. "You really make people angry, you know. You should work on that." Before Ichigo could speak she walked ahead of him and away from the protection of his umbrella. "Let's go." She called out.

Ichigo grumbled in response but followed Rukia's stride any way. While walking behind her, he took out his wallet to check on how much money he had left. Sadly due to his earlier activities he had only a few hundred yen left, probably good for a cup and a half cup of tea.

They continued walking for a few blocks with Ichigo following Rukia closely behind. The rain had let up miraculously after they walked half a block and the sun was starting to peek its way through the clouds. Ichigo put away his umbrella while Rukia still had a long way to go to dry and was at the moment, still holding onto herself with teeth chattering.

He had no idea where she was going but the direction she was walking toward had a place he knew they could go to. Just as she passed the building, he called out to her to stop. "Hey, wait! Over here!" She returned and stood by him to look at the sign of the building.

"The food here is pretty good and cheap. Plus they have a bakery." Ichigo said.

Rukia read a poster board sign placed near the entrance that had specials for the day. Her face scrunched up in her obvious distaste at the menu. "Are you sure it's this place? It's really dowdy." She said haughtily.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at her snobby display. "Stop being picky. I'm too tired to walk any where else." He proceeded to go toward the entrance. When he heard no sound of her footsteps following him, Ichigo looked behind him. He saw Rukia standing in the same spot with her arms crossed defiantly. "Aren't you coming? They have a heater, you know. You won't be freezing in there like you are now."

She shook her head. "No way am I stepping foot in there." She pointed to the entrance for emphasis.

Fully frustrated with her bratty actions, Ichigo decided he'd have to use force on her. He walked over and grabbed her arm, pulling her along with him. Although Rukia herself was also too tired to free herself from his tightening grip, she managed to yell at him in protest. He ignored her and went inside the building. Since the restaurant was located on the fifth floor, Ichigo led her to the elevator. At this time of the day there was no one else present around them.

He loosened his grip from her arm and stood there waiting for the elevator, mentally reminding himself to keep his calm. So here he was with Rukia, a somewhat sworn enemy turned tolerable person, taking her out for tea. There had to be some way to get out of this mess quicker...

While he stood there with a deep scowl plastered across his face, Rukia glanced up at him wondering what he was thinking in his bout of silence. She honestly had given up long ago on the chance that Ichigo would come but stayed due to her lingering hope that he would find her and feel guilty enough to do something about it. She smiled a bit. It didn't work as perfectly as she expected but it was close enough.

"Damn it, why is this elevator taking so long?" Ichigo muttered to himself. Rukia stood behind him, equally getting impatient.

"Put your hands up where I can see them. Don't try any funny stuff." A voice from behind them demanded. Both Ichigo and Rukia turned their heads to see a man dressed in black with a ski mask over his face. He was pointing a gun at them.

Ichigo looked at him incredulously. Okay, so they weren't in the best of neighborhoods but still...

"Do you know who I am?" Rukia asked fiercely.

What the hell is she doing? Ichigo thought. Idiot, she's asking for it!

The gunman chuckled. "Of course I do. You're the Kuchiki heir. Why do you think I followed you in the first place? Now both of you put your damn hands up or I'll shoot."

In this matter of life or death, Ichigo raised his own hands but found that Rukia was still standing there, leering up at the gunman. "Hey, what are you doing? Put your hands up!" Ichigo hissed at her.

"Yeah, sweetheart. Do what your boyfriend says. It would be a shame for him to lose such a sweet thing like yourself." The gunman said. Ichigo didn't bother correcting him about the boyfriend part. What good would it do now?

"Why you, I should-" Rukia took a step forward. Thinking quickly, Ichigo hastily grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her back against him.

"Listen," Ichigo bent down and whispered in her ear as she stood fuming. "This man has a gun. He will shoot us if we don't cooperate. Please just do whatever he says or we won't get out alive."

She let out a heavy sigh, weighing in his words before obliging and finally lifted her arms up above her head. Ichigo proceeded to do the same.

"Glad to see your boyfriend can talk some sense into you." The gunman continued. "Now do what I say." Still pointing the gun, he nodded his head to the right. "Walk down that hallway." He walked behind Ichigo and Rukia, pointing the gun straight at Ichigo's head. The gunman figured Ichigo would be the first to fight him if he tried. He continued to give them orders on where to turn. They ended up going down a flight of stairs down to the basement area.

Shit, the basement? Ichigo was stricken with panic as they walked down. He couldn't help but think of what the gunman could do to them. He could possibly shoot them dead, hide their bodies in some dark corner, or rather burn them in the furnace and nobody would discover their bones and ashes until much later when the janitor would do a routine clean-up. He shook his head to rid his thoughts of the grim possibilities. Okay, now you're thinking way to much into this. Just try to stay alive.

The gunman ordered them to stop in front of the janitor's closet. While keeping a close eye on Ichigo and Rukia, he prodded the door of the closet open with his foot. "Get inside." He demanded.

They entered and the gunman flicked on the light switch. The only source of dull light came from a single gloomy light bulb hanging overhead. "Now both of you empty your pockets."

Rukia turned the pockets of her jeans inside out with only her cellphone falling out while Ichigo took out his wallet. "Throw the wallet on the ground." The gunman told Ichigo.

Ichigo placed his wallet upon the ground and went back into this previous position with arms up. He glanced at Rukia who seemed to have her eyes half-closed. He wondered what was wrong with her.

The gunman picked up Ichigo's wallet and sifted through it with one hand. He grabbed what Ichigo had left of yen and then threw the wallet back on the ground. "You've got to be kidding me. No credit cards or anything? And you," He directed toward Rukia, "I know you must have something." He walked over to her and pointed the gun at Ichigo. "Don't you try to make a single move, lover boy."

Ichigo stood there fighting the urge to intervene as the gunman placed a hand on Rukia's hip. He proceeded to slide his hand down agonizingly slow, intentionally tracing every form of her body. Ichigo could see her shudder but realized she was too worn out to do any thing.

The way the gunman touched Rukia in her helpless state sickened Ichigo. Even if this was Rukia, Ichigo believed that no person should be under this much twisted scrutiny. He clenched his fist and vowed mentally that if he ever found this gunman after the ordeal, he would make him pay for all it was worth. "You fuckin' bastard." Ichigo cursed under his breath at the man.

"What did you say?" The gunman asked when he heard Ichigo's mutter. Ichigo locked his jaw together and stared at the door without answering the man. The man shrugged, too occupied with forming his hands over Rukia's behind. When he was satisfied that Rukia did indeed not have any money on her, he stood up.

"I robbed you guys just for this?" He held up the few pieces of yen he stole from Ichigo. "It seems your brother is just as greedy as he seems to be, Rukia. He doesn't even give you an allowance."

The mention of her brother forced Rukia to raise her head in surprise. "What does this have to do with my brother?"

The gunman's eyes widened at the realization of what he just blurted out. "Forget it. I'm leaving." He avoided the subject and backed up. "Now, don't you two try to follow me. This time I'll definitely shoot." He grabbed at the doorknob from behind and opened the door wide enough so he could fit through it sideways.

Once he slammed the door shut, Ichigo ran over to it and turned the knob. "Shit." He cursed when he found that the knob could turn but the door wouldn't budge. "Hey, let us out!" Ichigo yelled when he heard the gunman putting something in front of the door to barricade them inside.

"Hah, you brats can stay in there! Find out what it's like to be kicked out of your comfort zone and forced into poverty!" Ichigo heard him cackle and his footsteps slowly faded away.

They needed to get out of there some way. Ichigo looked quickly around the dimly lit janitor closet for some sort of tool that could break down the door. All he found in the room was a mop, a few brooms, and buckets of soap detergent. His eyes diverted to the ground where he spotted Rukia's cellphone. Eagerly he grabbed it and checked to see if it was working. It was working all right, but down in the basement there was no reception.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration not noticing Rukia standing in the middle with her shoulders slumped. It wasn't until he heard her sniffle that Ichigo got out of his desperate reverie and went to face her.

"Are you... crying?" His voice had a hint of worry in it. But he was a little freaked out more so that Rukia was possibly crying. He was never to sure how to handle a situation with crying girls.

She wiped her nose off on the sleeve of her cardigan. "No, you idiot. My nose is runny." Ichigo could hear the nasally tone of her voice. Now more concerned for her than he had ever been before, Ichigo lifted a hand and gingerly felt her forehead. Her skin was burning.

Of course. The hours of waiting in the rain, the soaked clothes, the harassment done by the gunman. It happened to Rukia and Ichigo blamed himself for it. "I... I'm sorry." He apologized earnestly. "You're sick and it was all because I didn't show up on time."

She nodded in agreement. "You baka." She shivered, her body both hot and cold at the same time. There was no heating in the janitor's closet and the temperature was dropping gradually.

Rukia started to whine. "I want to go home. I want to take a warm bath. I want to have a good dinner. I want..." Her voice faltered and her eyes fluttered shut. Feeling as if her legs turned to jelly, she fell over.

Ichigo grabbed her before she could hit the floor. "Rukia! What's wrong?" He managed to hold her body upright but her head sagged downward.

"I'm so cold." She barely said above a whisper. Her body shook so forcefully that all Ichigo could do was hold her to his body tighter to provide body warmth.

He forgot about his pride at that moment and decided that her health was more important than his war with her. He lay her body on the ground and got up to take off a few items of clothing to cover her. He had a scarf around his neck which he unraveled and placed under Rukia's head. He took of his coat and put it on top of her, tucking the sides underneath her body.

Afterward he took a look at his wristwatch to check the time. 6:14. The restaurant would be closing soon. He thought there may be chance that someone would come down to the basement and release them.

So Ichigo waited at first, sitting on the ground and hugging his knees to keep himself warm as he sat next to Rukia. She had fell into a deep slumber the instant he covered her with his coat. Her breathing was steady, her face calm. Ichigo noted the innocence in her features and absentmindedly moved the strand of hair that fell in between her eyes. This caused her to stir and she wearily opened her eyelids.

"Aren't... you... cold?" Rukia slowly asked him when she saw that he had nothing to keep himself warm.

Ichigo shook his head. "Nope. We commoners are used to the cold. We grin and bear it. I'm a strong strawberry." He said quite thoughtfully.

The corner of her mouth turned up a bit in an effort to smile at his answer. Tiredness took over her body again and she lolled her head to the side, falling back to sleep.

After a while Ichigo's back started to ache from his sitting position. He moved to rest on the ground a short distance away from Rukia. He was definitely getting increasingly drowsy and with each look at his wristwatch, minutes passed by and his hope that someone would find them dwindled. He tried to pry his eyes to open wide but his mind wanted nothing more than to rest. After another measly attempt to widen his eyes, he finally gave in and shut his eyelids, welcoming the darkness that met him.

AN: *cough* Ano... how was it? I'm dying to know what you guys think so I can keep it mind when I write the next chapter. But yes, Rukia is sick and it's all Ichigo's fault. So... Stay safe while I'm gone! Maybe when I'm in Japan I can get enough inspiration to get a few ideas to add in this HYD storyline. As always review with love, constructive criticism, and anything else you can put in that review box!

Thanks! ありがとうございます！