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: I AM BACK! Please excuse the ridiculously long overdue update. Blame college life and me for wanting to graduate. :P I have a three week winter break now so I will try to update more often. Expect the next chapter to come in a few days time since I felt so bad for not updating this sooner.

Again, many thanks and many hugs to my readers and reviewers! Especially you reviewers! You definitely brightened my day when I was shut in, studying for finals! You helped reach the 100 mark too! Wow, I thought I would never see the day! I hope you enjoy this! Much love!

Yosh! Get this party started! よろしくお願いします！

Chapter 14

Deep, slow inhalations and exhalations. That's all Ichigo needed to do to muster up the strength to take on the crowd of snooty teenagers surrounding him. There were at least a dozen approximately in his viewpoint with a few more standing behind them. Girls stood off to the side, holding their breath at what they believed to be the downfall of Kurosaki Ichigo.

Ichigo did a quick a scan of their faces and found a few boys from the group he hung out with at the club. He felt like such an idiot for caving in to their pressuring him into going that night. But what's done was done and at the moment, Ichigo decided this would be a good time to let out his frustration on the Takaimono student body.

It began when one brave boy left the safety of his group and came thrashing toward Ichigo. His fists moved in pummeling motions although he was idiotically just hitting the air around him. Perhaps he thought he looked intimidating by doing that, Ichigo thought to himself. Ichigo shrugged and once the boy got in a good grabbing distance from him, Ichigo gripped both of the boy's arms to stop him from moving.

"AHHHHHHH!" The boy yelled out in pain as if it was the most excruciating thing he felt. Ichigo quickly disposed of the weakling by swinging him to side and releasing his grip on the boy's arms. The boy was swung into another group of boys who all fell over like a domino effect.

Another boy ran in from Ichigo's left and took a quick swing at Ichigo's head. With ease, Ichigo swiftly ducked his head and delivered his right fist at the boy's stomach. More boys charged at him and each time Ichigo countered with a knockout. To Ichigo's advantage, rich kids seemed to be terrible fighters.

After ten minutes, the fighting ceased once a number of students were sprawled out on the floor of the dining hall. Ichigo glared at the remaining students around him, challenging anyone else who dared to approach him. "Who's next?" He questioned in an intimidating tone.

They all stepped back, shaking their heads with fright. "You're crazy!" They yelled at him.

"How the hell is he still standing after all that?" They wondered.

"We'll get him next time. Everybody leave the punk!" Students assisted the fallen boys up and like a stampede of wild animals retreating from a lion in fear, they left the dining hall.

Ichigo made sure their footsteps were out of earshot before he abruptly fell to his knees on the ground. He was able to keep that fighter posture for so long but he really felt worn out after. He was panting heavily, his glistening brow already dripping with sweat. Some boy managed to deliver his fist right into the side of Ichigo's face causing some swelling to show up. Ichigo's own fists felt awfully numb and his knuckles were already turning a shade of purple from its swelling.

Oddly a little part of him smiled. It seemed that fighting off those bullies with Chad in middle school helped a lot.

The sound of shuffling footsteps caught Ichigo off guard. He swiftly turned his head toward the person walking toward him.

He calmed down once he saw who it was. "Eh? Hanatarou? You are back." Ichigo managed to produce a lopsided grin toward his friend as if nothing was wrong. "I'm glad you finally decided to return."

"H-hai." Hanatarou meekly answered and bowed quickly. Once back up, he stared at Ichigo with wide worried eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Yea… just a little numb." Ichigo answered as he got himself up slowly. As he dusted himself off, he took another look at the table with the photographs of him sprawled out. Ichigo felt absolutely disgusted with himself. For goodness sakes, he was only fifteen and he already had his own scandal! Resolutely he decided he needed to fix this to preserve what dignity he had left. For now he hoped this stayed within Takaimono and would not get within reach of his family.

As his mind relayed the events prior, he could not help but recall Rukia's reaction in his mind. "Why didn't she believe me?" He said to Hanatarou.

Ichigo didn't understand of all the people that wouldn't believe him, Rukia was one of them. After the many times she stuck to him after he clearly avoided her advances, the one time when he truly wanted her to be on his side as an ally, she could not believe his words. It frustrated him deeply that the next thing Hanatarou said didn't seem like a bad idea to him.

"You should go and convince Kuchiki-san that it was all a big mistake."

Ichigo nodded. "Someone set me up and now people think I'm something I'm not. Maybe if Rukia will believe me, everyone else will follow and believe me too. Even if I do detest the Takaimono student body now, I'm definitely not going to give them the satisfaction of me dropping out."

"You should go to the nurse first." Hanatarou added, pointing out the swelling on Ichigo's face.

"Oh, right. Thanks." Ichigo proceeded out with Hanatarou following him carefully. He was afraid that Ichigo would fall to the ground in exhaustion.

A few hours later…

Toshirou and Renji sat at their usual table in Rukia's mansion. On the tabletop were the incriminating photos of Ichigo. They examined each one, curiously figuring out what had happened that night. Ichigo and Hanatarou were also in the room standing off to the side while Rukia made herself distant by turning toward the window.

Renji blew a low whistle through his lips as he placed the last photo back onto the table. He looked at Ichigo with a smirk upon his face. "I was right! You are that type of player. For some odd reason, I don't feel as obligated to beat you up as I did before… Although I do wonder if the girl was hot. These pictures do nothing for my satisfaction." He added smugly.

If it weren't for Hanatarou holding him back, Ichigo would have punched Renji right in the jaw.

"Now, now, Renji." Toshirou interjected, still examining one of the photos. "I'm interested in hearing what Ichigo has to say. He does look unconscious in a way… unless the experience was that bad that he felt the need to fake it and pretend he was asleep."

Ichigo grabbed the photo quickly back from Toshirou. "All right. Stop your speculation. I'm not here to talk to you two."

"So you're here for Rukia?" Renji asked Ichigo. He raised an eyebrow in interest at what Ichigo had to say.

"It's none of your business." Ichigo shot back automatically. Before Renji could counteract, Ichigo approached Rukia near the window. He stopped a few feet away from her and started, albeit rather nervously.

"Rukia, listen."

Without answering him, Rukia cast her eyes toward him and looked him over. She instantly spotted the bandages over his hands and the bruise on his cheek. A little part of her wanted to know who the hell did this to him. But a more dominant part of her remembered the photos and told her that what he did could not be forgiven.

"I'm telling you that I swear I did nothing. You said yourself that I'm not that type of guy. You have to believe me." Ichigo continued.

She had a bitter smile on her face as she listened to him. "A picture is worth a thousand words. Which words are true? Yours or the photos?" She asked.

"What I'm telling you is true! I've been framed! I have absolutely no idea where these came from!" Ichigo tried to defend himself.

"How did you get yourself in such a situation in the first place?" Rukia questioned back. She crossed her arms over chest and looked him straight in the eyes, waiting for an answer expectedly.

Ichigo hesitated. There was no way to rephrase what happened that night to make himself look any better. He couldn't lie. Besides not being such a good liar in the first place, he knew the real truth would resurface to bite him in the arse. He would have to tell her what really happened.

"Well... a few nights back I went to a club with a few students from Takaimono. I didn't know what to expect since I've never been in that type of atmosphere… a girl came up to me and we started talking." He paused, expecting some sort of reaction from Rukia. She stood unmoving, just listening continually.

He continued. "She offered me a drink which I thought was regular iced tea. Yet… before I knew it, she dragged me out of the club and from there on I can't remember a single thing since I passed out." He concluded.

At the end of his story, Rukia slowly closed her eyelids and stood in deep thought. Ichigo was unsure how to respond after that. Should he prod on and tell her he was innocent yet again or wait until she actually said a word?

He did not have to guess any further once she opened her eyes and said in the lowest voice possible, "You expect me to believe that?"

It was surprisingly calm. "Yes." Ichigo simply answered.

"You're an idiot."

Ichigo almost fell over from her remark. "I'm an idiot?" He pointed to himself in disbelief. "Me? An idiot? You should be the one talking."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rukia countered, still in her calm composure.

"Let me recall the last few weeks or so." Ichigo placed his index finger on the side of his temple and tapped a few times as if racking through his memory. "I didn't accept those gifts that you so sneakily placed in my book bag, I didn't agree to go on that so-called 'date' with you which ended up in a disaster, and I didn't give you permission to go into my home but you invited yourself in anyway."

"Your family invited me in." She corrected.

Hearing this, Renji instantly rose up from his chair. "What? You've already met his family!"

"It's none of your business!" Rukia and Ichigo yelled at him in unison.

Renji slumped back into his chair, his face sour from being yelled at. "Sheesh, you both have a stick up your ass."

Ignoring him, Ichigo went back to making his point to Rukia. "Okay, they invited you inside. But it doesn't change the fact that they practically treated you like a queen. Honestly I didn't like the way you took advantage of that."

"Is it not common courtesy to accept anything you're offered when you're in someone's home?" Rukia shot back.

"It's common courtesy to politely decline anything from people who don't even have a lot to give in the first place!" Ichigo yelled out.

"Oh, so this is about how poor your family is now?" Rukia raised her own voice an octave. Her previous calm composure was obviously disposed of.

Ichigo placed his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose in frustration. "No, you're missing the point, you midget!"

"Midget? You talk like some incoherent baboon!"

"Takes one to know one, pip squeak!"

"Bleached carrot top!"

"STOP IT!" Midway through their insults, Hanatarou hollered for them to stop. Ichigo and Rukia looked at him in shock since yelling seemed very uncharacteristic of him.

All eyes were on Hanatarou as he meekly retreated himself and diverted his eyes to the ground. "Ano…" He cleared his throat. "Please stop. It's not a good sight to see you two fighting." He said quietly.

"Stay out of this! It's none of your business either!" Rukia barked out toward Hanatarou who shrunk back in fear at her outburst.

"Hey, don't yell at him!" Ichigo directed to Rukia.

"No, Kurosaki-san. It's fine." Hanatarou raised his hands up to signal Ichigo to stop from defending him. "Like you, Kuchiki-san has been deeply affected by this also. What you did was wrong but you can't change the fact that it happened. You've been hurt physically and Kuchiki-san, emotionally… I-I just want you two to stop this already."

There was a moment of awkward silence where Ichigo as well as Rukia gave a second thought at Hanatarou's words.

"You still cheated on me." Rukia muttered under her breath.

"Wait a second…" Ichigo stopped his train of thought once she spoke up. "How does this constitute as cheating? We're not a couple. There is no such thing as 'cheating' on my behalf."

Rukia looked at Ichigo as if she were truly seeing him for the first time. She finally understood these words to validate how he truly felt toward her. "If that's how you see it, I don't understand why you came here in the first place." She told him quietly. Before Ichigo could say another word, she turned and quickly walked out of the room.

Ichigo felt an unexplainable pang form within his chest. Rukia walking out like that just made him feel so… angry. "You're right! I don't know why the hell I even tried! Excuse me for bothering you!" He yelled out, hoping Rukia heard him. He stormed out of the room and Hanatarou quickly followed.

After they left, Toshirou shook his head, a bit disappointed at the outcome of Rukia and Ichigo's conversation. "It's a shame. I thought they would make a nice couple."

"You're too optimistic." Renji said and swiped up a photo to examine it again. "Whatever he did, he's clearly stated now that he's not interested. It's better off this way."

Toshirou also picked up a photo from the table. Ichigo's situation didn't make any sense to him. The pictures were good proof but Ichigo did not seem dumb enough to have such incriminating photos of him taken on purpose.

Toshirou placed it back onto the table then clasped his hands together in thought. "Hmm… I wonder…"

"Ah, I can't think straight!" Ichigo cried out, fully irritated that night. He sat at his desk, working on a homework assignment that was anything but complete. Each time he tried to concentrate on a sentence, his mind would go back to… Rukia. His memory would go back to the time she defended him, her approval of him, and her trying to make the Takaimono student body support them. He could care less for the last one but other than that…

"You don't approve of someone if you aren't going to give them your trust!" Ichigo said through his grinding teeth. He swiped a hand over his face to try to rid of the thoughts immediately.

On the other side of town, Rukia lay back on her couch with her arms tucked behind her head. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew Ichigo was not treating her like everyone else for a reason. It was a reason that she did not want to admit and genuinely she had hoped he would not say it.

But when Rukia finally heard the words from Ichigo that he did not consider them as a couple, she knew she would have to accept it even if she did not want to.

She silently cursed under breath at Kaien for giving her false hope about Ichigo…

And yet, was it really Kaien's fault? Rukia's conscious came through to answer for her. No... You tried too hard to force it to happen. When you weren't satisfied with what you had, you continued on without knowing your limits. You wanted something that… was never within your reach to begin with.

She sighed heavily and covered her face with both her hands in sheer frustration. "What the hell did I do?"

When she regained herself, she glanced over at the glass table a few feet away. On it was the green and white-striped scarf that Ichigo had given her when they were stuck in the basement together. Earlier on she had it dry cleaned and placed in a clear bag. She planned to give it back to him and somehow thank him for it.

She wasn't so sure if she could do that now.

"ICHIGOOOOOO!'

Ichigo looked over at his father barging into his room and was met with a quick blinding flash of light. "Ah! Dad, what the hell?"

"Haha, this'll be a great shot to add to the family photo albums." Isshin smiled toothily. He took out the photo from his Polaroid camera and shook it a bit before examining it to himself. "Beautiful! Now since I only have one photo left to take, come out and take a family portrait with me and your sisters!"

"A family portrait on a Polaroid? Uh, I'll pass." Ichigo answered but got up from his seat. "I'll take one of you and the twins if you want."

"No, no, no!" Isshin remarked and pushed his son out into their living room. "This is a family portrait and you are in this family!"

Yuzu and Karin were already situated in front of a makeshift background that consisted of a chair in front of a bed sheet that hung on the wall. The twins stood on either side of the chair. Yuzu smiled, already in position for the camera. Karin on the other hand, had an expression of annoyance on her face.

"He managed to get you out for this ridiculous picture?" Karin questioned Ichigo after Isshin had placed Ichigo in the middle, behind the chair.

"Pretty much." Ichigo replied. They waited for Isshin to adjust the camera atop a shelf. Isshin ran over quickly to sit on the chair in the middle of his children.

"Okay kids, say cheese!" Isshin directed and flashed his own huge shining smile.

"Cheeeeeese!" Yuzu followed suit and smiled.

"Cheese." Ichigo and Karin said monotonously. They waited five seconds for the camera to flash until Ichigo realized there was no one to push the button.

"How are we going to take a picture when there's no one to take it?" He asked Isshin.

"Oh, right… that's my boy! Smart enough to realize something so simple that your old man couldn't. I guess we'll just save it then."

"No, it's fine. I'll take it. I'll be with you guys in spirit." Ichigo offered and went over to grab the camera.

"Alright, if you say so." Isshin said and instantly readied his smile again. "Come on, girls! We'll look like a family that consists of a father with two pretty daughters that are ready to be married off!"

"What kind of father says that?" Karin yelled out in disbelief.

"The kind that hopes it will happen in the future! Now smile!" Isshin explained through his teeth.

"One, two, three. Say cheese." Ichigo directed to his family.

Wait a minute…

After the flash of the bulb, Isshin gasped. "Ichigo, you just took a picture of the ground!" Isshin cried out in shock and stood up to grab the camera from Ichigo. "What a waste! The last picture!"

"Thank goodness." Karin said and gave her own smile of satisfaction.

"Oh, sorry about that. I just... have bad aim." Ichigo quickly reasoned then grabbed the phone from the phone dock and went back into his room. Locking the door behind him to avoid any other intrusions by his hyperactive father, he dialed the number to Hanatarou's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hanatarou? It's Ichigo. I think I may be able to figure out who framed me. There was another person in that room who took the photos. I've got to find the person who did it. If it's alright, I'll need your help to find the him or her." Ichigo hoped he would accept.

"Etto… Kurosaki-san. Are you by any chance, doing this for Kuchiki-san?" Hanatarou questioned on the other line.

"Well, it's not exactly like that-"

"It shouldn't be like that at all." Hanatarou interjected. "I realized that you shouldn't care what Kuchiki-san said. She didn't even try to see it in your point of view." Hanatarou added.

"It's a bit surprising what you're saying." Ichigo said, taken aback at the severity of Hanatarou's words.

"It's because you're my friend, Kurosaki-san. Don't you recall all those terrible things you told me she did to you? I don't want you to go through them again."

"That's true, but now-"

"I can't help you if you're doing it for her. I'm sorry. But don't worry! If you need anything else I'll be there to help." Hanatarou said quite cheerfully.

"Ah…" Ichigo nodded. "I understand. Thanks anyway. I'll talk to you later."

"Hai! Ja ne!" Hanatarou said before hanging up the phone.

After he placed the phone down, Ichigo pondered on Hanatarou's sudden change of view. It was quite strange that he would want Rukia and Ichigo to reconcile at one time and then altogether disregard Rukia another time. Ichigo couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but something about Hanatarou was off.

"Ah, well." He shrugged it off and went back to his homework.

The next day at work, Ichigo informed Tatsuki and Chad of his plans to look for the person who shot the photographs of him. Chad was all for bringing the person to justice but Tatsuki on the other hand, was worried about Ichigo's safety.

"This sounds like it'll be really dangerous. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Tatsuki questioned with concern for her friend.

"I have to, Tatsuki. Besides I think I can…" Ichigo stopped mid-sentence once he heard Urahara cry out with what sounded like a gleeful scream.

"Eeeee! Young masters, welcome! Welcome again!" Urahara said from the front of the store.

"Young masters?" Tatsuki questioned. "That must be…"

"It can't be…" Ichigo went out to the front with Tatsuki and Chad joining him there. "It is." Ichigo scratched his head in confusion once he spotted Renji and Toshirou in the shop.

Urahara had a box of candy in his hands open for Renji and Toshirou to sample. "This is a new shipment that just arrived today. Real Italian chocolate."

Renji helped himself to a morsel as Toshirou went over to Ichigo. "Good thing you're working today, Ichigo." He said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo questioned and glanced to the side to make sure Tatsuki was far from Renji lest he try to kidnap her again.

"We have a lot of free time and I ran out of candy so we came to get some more." Renji quickly answered while munching on a toffee piece.

Urahara wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye. "You like them. You really, really like them."

"Well, that's his purpose for coming here," Toshirou said, "but I'm here to offer some help on finding the culprit of your photos."

"Eh? How do you know you I'm trying to find the culprit?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

"I was able to figure it out when you spoke with Rukia yesterday. It's a genius trait of mine." Toshirou answered as a matter of fact.

Ichigo mentally rolled his eyes. "All right. I could use some help since I'm not sure exactly where to start."

"Wait a second. Ichigo, come here." Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo's arm and led him off to the side away from Toshirou and Renji. "Are you sure you want to be involved with these guys? My experience with them wasn't the best."

"I know, but right now I'll take all the help I can get to clear my name." Ichigo turned back to Toshirou. "Okay, when do we start?"

"We can start right now. Renji will fill in your place here at work while we're out." Toshirou offered without Renji's consent.

"Mmff, mhwat?" Renji yelled out with a mouthful of chocolate.

"You'll fill in for Ichigo while he goes to find the culprit." Toshirou pushed Renji out the door to go outside. Urahara followed them out excitedly.

"Welcome, welcome!" Toshirou bellowed out to the passersby. "Today's special: with every purchase of a box of candy, you'll be able to get one kiss from this gentleman right here!" He pointed at Renji who quickly swallowed his candy in order to protest against this clearly.

"Hey, w-" Renji tried to get in a word but was overshadowed by Urahara's own enthusiastic yelling.

"Yes, everybody come and get your chocolates and a kiss! Quickly! Quickly!" Urahara waved his fan in the air and beckoned for people to come in. Needless to say, this caught the attention of a swarm of women young and old. Soon the shop had a single file line of eager ladies waiting outside.

During Renji's "job", Rukia had a visitor come to her own doorstep. After he was taken to Rukia's room, Hanatarou stood before her begging for her help.

"Ano, I want to ask for your help in finding the person who was with Ichigo in those photos." Hanatarou explained when Rukia questioned him why he was there.

"You were there yesterday." Rukia replied and went over to sit on her couch. "You know I have no reason to be concerned with this."

"B-but you've got to be at least a little curious if Ichigo was really with a girl that night. Right?" Hanatarou asked to see if she would confirm it.

Rukia was curious of course, but she wouldn't admit it to Hanatarou. She answered him with silence.

"If you are, I'll be at Karakura Square." Hanatarou nodded and began to leave.

"Wait." Rukia called out causing him to stop. "Whatever you have in mind, I better get the truth. Now leave." When Hanatarou was unmoving she ordered him once more to go. "Get out!"

Hanatarou quickly bowed and shuffled himself out of the room.

No sooner after he left, the door opened yet again and none other than Byakuya himself entered to pay his sister a visit. As usual, his bodyguards and assistant Nanao were with him. The bodyguards stayed outside the room as only Byakuya entered with Nanao following him.

Rukia got up from the couch and faced her brother with an obvious look of distaste on her face. "Aren't you supposed to be in a plane to New York by now?"

Not answering her question, Byakuya beckoned for Nanao to come forward. Nanao took out a stack of photos from her clipboard. As she placed them on the table in front of Rukia, Rukia realized they were the infamous photos of Ichigo.

Rukia pointed to her brother. "It was… you? You paid someone to take those photos, didn't you?" Rukia accused Byakuya instantly.

Byakuya chuckled under his breath. "I did no such thing. But the important thing here is that this little boy of yours you're playing around with has a few skeletons in his closet."

"You've been spying on me…" Rukia realized. Byakuya would have no idea about Ichigo otherwise. Communication between her and Byakuya was almost nonexistent.

"And I'm glad I did." Byakuya replied haughtily. "You're a Kuchiki. Start acting like one for a change instead of getting involved with this peasant trash." He grabbed the photos from the table and threw them to the ground. "Stop fooling around with this boy if you want to keep the respect of the Kuchiki name."

"Or else what?" Rukia bravely shot back as if challenging him.

Byakuya narrowed his cold gray eyes and placed his left foot on one of the photos on the ground. He mashed the heel of his leather shoe into the picture, grinding away the surface. "It'll be at the cost of your little plaything."

"Kuchiki-shachou, your flight has arrived." Nanao interrupted after getting a message through her phone. Byakuya glared once more at his sister before swiftly pivoting and leaving the room.

Rukia formed her hands into tight fists, holding back the rage she felt toward her brother. Since when did he care for the respect of the Kuchiki name? She scoffed at his hypocrisy. If anything, he caused more controversy in public to bring down the Kuchiki name.

Peasant trash. Her fists loosened. Rukia felt simply angered at the fact that her brother called Ichigo by that name. Coming from Byakuya, the words sounded ten times more demeaning to her ears. She hated that Byakuya considered him as such.

Rukia grabbed her purse and left her room. There would be no way in hell she would listen to her brother.

AN: Thoughts? Questions? Answers? Heh, it seems reviewers have a preference for Rukia or Ichigo. I love 'em both and I'm trying to place them in a better light. Although since Rukia was so "bad" prior to this, it's getting harder. Which team are you on? :D Team Ichigo? Team Rukia? Or any other team, Renji, Byakuya, etc. I'm just curious...

I hope you all are warm and snuggly in this cold weather. Unless you're in some tropical part of the world or it's summer where you're at, bask in the sun! But don't forget the sunblock!

Welcome to new readers and welcome back to the old ones! I missed you guys and gals!

Thank you! ありがとうございます！