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: Ahh, thank you so much reviewers and readers for continuing this journey along with me! I knew I had to update ASAP! I really hope I don't disappoint with the direction I'm going towards with the story. I want to stray a bit away from the HYD storyline so I do have a question at the end for you all to answer... Onward!

Yosh! Let's go! よろしくお願いします！

Japanese Notes:

-Mochiron: Of course

Chapter 22

Rukia's lips were soft, almost feathery when she made contact with Ichigo's own slightly parted lips. He was stunned at her boldness and the sudden contact. It was an odd predicament considering she had closed her eyes and puckered her lips a bit, ignoring whether Ichigo was doing the same. After a second when she noticed there was no movement coming from him, she pulled his hand harder and moved her lips against his own, trying to elicit some kind of response.

Ichigo had to admit her lips did have a nice feel to them and he felt a slight tingling in the pit of his stomach. Inexperienced as he was, this was not half as bad as he expected. Not entirely sure of what he was doing, he squeezed her hand in response and kissed her back this time with a little more fervor. Alas he realized that this really was his first kiss.

After a few more seconds they parted. Ichigo could feel the sudden rush of warmth fill his face contrary to Rukia who donned a smug expression instead of a blush. He actually kissed her back. "What the hell just happened?" He blurted out, saying the first thing that popped in his mind.

Annoyed by his idiocy, Rukia let go off his hand and instead used it to smack him hard multiple times on the side of his arm at each word she said. "You. Just. Kissed. Me. You. Idiot!"

"OW!" Ichigo rubbed his now red arm although quite surprised himself at his stupid question. Yet he rethought her words and fired back, "Hey! You're the one who kissed me!"

"Oh yeah?" Rukia challenged, raising an eyebrow and refolding her arms in front of her chest. "You wasted no time trying to stop me."

At the realization she was telling the truth, Ichigo's face flamed up even more. "Uhh… well… that… hm…" He scratched his head while looking around at everything else besides her.

Rukia rolled her eyes at his nervousness. They were wasting time and needed to discuss further matters at hand. "Come on!"

Ichigo yelped as she quickly grabbed his hand again and dragged him with her toward her limousine that was waiting on the outskirts of the plaza. They situated themselves inside, Ichigo making sure to keep a bit of distance between them. He suddenly felt shy, the audacious part of him that continued their kiss was now out the window.

He coughed. "Where are we going?"

"Back to my place." Rukia replied automatically.

Ichigo's eyes bulged at her response. "Ehhh? What for?" His mind was obviously thinking of a whole different meaning behind it.

Rukia noticed his reaction but resisted the urge to slap him again. "To discuss what's happened today. Jeez, did that kiss make you stupider or what?"

He peered out of the tinted window of the limousine, not sure how to answer that question since truthfully his mind was still a bit fuzzy from their intimate contact. Oh god, I really kissed her. He thought mentally. He suddenly felt a myriad of confusing emotions all pulling him in different directions. It took him a few seconds to coherently form a sentence in his mind, ignoring her question of his stupidity.

"This can't wait until we get to your place so first of all, I want you to tell me what Ryo did to you that made you so pissed off at him." Ichigo started right off the bat, wanting to know exactly about the situation concerning Tatsuki as much as possible.

"Oh yeah, that jerk." Rukia scoffed, recalling the original reason she wanted to meet Ichigo in the first place prior to the mess her brother uncovered. "We both knew right from the start that the bastard was weird."

Ichigo nodded in agreement. "Right from the start, he was less than polite."

"He was an inconsiderate jerk." Rukia added distastefully. "Anyway after I left the restroom he was there outside waiting for me, like a stalker." She slightly shuddered at the thought. "He said he was bored hanging out with Tatsuki and started hitting on me, trying to persuade me to leave with him. He called Tatsuki needy and not worth his time."

"And that's why you hit him?" Ichigo questioned, boiling anger building up inside from her description of the incident. How dare Ryo say that about Tatsuki?

"Not exactly the reason…" Rukia trailed off, knowing exactly what Ryo said that pissed her off more than anything. "He said you were ugly."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You hit him because of that?" He bit his tongue, trying to stifle a laugh from escaping his lips. For some reason, Ichigo found it funny that Rukia would beat up a guy because of what he said about Ichigo's looks. It was funny because wasn't that what a guy was supposed to do for a girl?

"Mochiron, bakamono!" Rukia shot back, peeved at Ichigo's disbelief. "I would never date someone ugly." She muttered under her breath.

Ichigo suppressed a grin, feeling somewhat flattered that Rukia would defend his looks. He shook his head to rid of the superficial thought. "Okay, so Ryo is a definite asshole and we need to get Tatsuki away from him. I'm not going to let her get hurt again." He decided. "But the problem is she seems really hooked on the guy so it'll probably be difficult for her to believe what he did to you."

"Why don't I just get rid of the guy once and for all?" Rukia offered, agreeing with him wholly, but having her own ideas in mind. "I was going to call Toshirou for a favor and get one of his cronies to deal with him." She said this as if there nothing ethically wrong with it.

Ichigo gasped at the prospect. "We can't get the yakuza involved in this! We don't want to get him killed or anything, we just want him to stay away from Tatsuki." He reasoned.

"Ah." Rukia nodded in understanding. "I forgot that commoners dealt with their problems differently. My mistake." She added simply.

Ichigo ignored her comment about his status, already realizing some things would never change her opinion. "Well… We need to expose him somehow."

"Yes, but we're here and there are other matters concerning your family we need to fix, so let's go inside." The car came to a stop in front of Rukia's mansion. Ichigo followed her out, once again marveling at the grand landscape. He could never be less than amazed at the sprawling sight.

After they entered the main hall, Ichigo spotted the woman he had seen a while ago who he remembered followed Rukia's brother around. She bowed her head toward Rukia and then to him. "Ichigo-san, it's nice to finally meet you. I am Nanao Ise."

"She's my brother's personal assistant but right now she's offering her help in solving this dilemma we're in." Rukia explained to Ichigo who bowed his head toward Nanao in greeting. "Luckily my brother is caught up in some important business meeting so Nanao was able to get away discreetly without him knowing."

Nanao slid her falling glasses up the bridge of her nose in the proper place and gestured toward a room nearby. "Shall we sit while we discuss this inside?

On the other side of town, Renji grumbled as he left a blindingly neon lit building housing pachinko machines. He was disgruntled with the fact that his luck was horrible that day and not a single profit was made from his gambling efforts. If he wasn't already rich enough to throw money away, he would be a crying mess regarding the amount of money he wasted.

He blew a sigh of annoyance as the cold night air hit his skin. As he opened his cellphone to call his chauffeur to pick him up, his ears distinctly heard a familiar female voice yelling in obvious anger. Is that… Tatsuki?

His curiosity getting the better of him, Renji surveyed his surroundings, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the female. His eyes widened slightly when he spotted Tatsuki. She was yelling at some boy with a smug expression on his oddly bandaged face. His arm was wrapped around a scantily dressed girl who held onto him.

Renji could hear their argument clearly as he made his way over to them, not thinking twice about exactly what he was doing.

"How could you do this to me, Ryo?" Tatsuki cried out amidst her frustration.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Whatevs. I don't know where you got the idea from that we were serious. I'm not going to be tied down by some tomboy like you."

Before Tatsuki could retaliate, Renji came up from behind and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "Is there a problem here?" He asked, coldly staring at Ryo with narrowed eyes.

The scantily clad girl with Ryo squealed as she set her eyes on Renji, instantly recognizing his face. "Oh my god! You're Abarai Renji! Get off of me, Ryo." She shimmied out his grasp then ran up to Renji and grabbed his arm instead. "You're so much sexier in person." She purred seductively while rubbing his arm with her hands.

Renji noticed Tatsuki turn her head away at the sight and suddenly felt awful. Roughly, he retracted his arm away from the girl. "Get off of me." The girl squeaked when she saw the threatening look in Renji's eyes and ran to hide behind Ryo.

"What the hell, man?" Ryo cried out. "Stay out of this! This ain't any of your business."

"Think again, asshole." Renji spat out. Without hesitation, he placed an arm around Tatsuki and firmly grasped her shoulder with his hand. She looked up at him with confusion, silently trying to search his eyes for an answer as to why he was doing this.

Renji merely smiled and winked at her. He turned his attention back to Ryo, the emotion in his face switching to anger. "You think you can cheat on Tatsuki and leave her without regret? You're the one who's going to regret leaving her because she was actually cheating on you…" He paused for dramatic effect. "…with me."

Ryo's mouth dropped at the shocking revelation, already feeling like a piece of trash thrown in the dumpster. He had an instant change of heart. "Wait a second, Tatsuki! I'm sorry, baby. I don't even know who this girl is." He carelessly pushed the girl behind him away, earning a mouthful of curse words from her but ignored her anyway. "I'll forgive you for cheating on me even if you don't forgive me for cheating on you. Please!" Ryo dropped pathetically to his knees and clasped his hands in front of Tatsuki while begging.

Tatsuki looked down at the mess before her and then once again up toward Renji. The look in his eyes was one of reassurance, as if he were telepathically encouraging her to make the right decision. She realized then that Ryo was the one that was worthless.

"No." She answered finally. Ryo cried out in disbelief.

She ignored his sobbing and continued. "I don't know what the hell I saw in you before, but I was blinded by your false personality. I never want to see you again. If you're ever in my sight, I swear Renji won't be the only one punching you senseless." She swiftly turned on her heel and walked away at a brisk pace.

Although he would have loved to strike Ryo then and there, Renji refrained from the violent act. He instead childishly stuck out his tongue at Ryo then turned away, quickly running to catch up to Tatsuki.

When they were out of earshot of a devastated Ryo, Tatsuki spoke up first. "Thank you, Renji."

"Ah, it was nothing. Nobody treats a girl like that." Renji answered truthfully while putting his hands behind his head in a nonchalant manner.

Tatsuki stopped abruptly in response and took a good long look at Renji who stopped alongside her.

"What?" He asked when he caught her staring up at him.

She chuckled. "I never thought of you acting so chivalrously. It's quite a surprise."

Renji raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Well… would it surprise you even more if I offered you a ride home?"

Tatsuki could feel her cheeks heat up. That was quite a surprise. "Maybe if you try not to kidnap me again." She challenged.

Renji laughed as he recalled the memory. "No promises."

Nanao had expertly created a flow chart, showcasing her plan oddly named "Bringing Down Byakuya-shachou". Ichigo commented that he had no intention of bringing the man down and only wanted to ensure that his father would not be unemployed, but Nanao simply waved it away saying that the title was just for fun.

"I'd be bringing down my job too if that were true." She chuckled to herself. "Moving on, as you can see, although your father will be losing his current job, he will be gaining a much better position in Byakuya's own company. Byakuya will have no power in firing him."

Ichigo looked at the chart in confusion. "Okay… but this is Byakuya's company. How can he not stop this from happening?"

"Rukia can explain that to you herself." Nanao directed a look toward Rukia.

Rukia recrossed her legs and repositioned her back in straighter posture as if she were ready to reveal some crucial information. "Well in actuality, I own a part of Kuchiki enterprises." She looked at her hands and started to fiddle with her fingers.

"It was stated officially in my, uh, parent's will." Ichigo heard an undertone of sadness in her voice as Rukia said this. He realized this was the first time she had mentioned her parents to him.

"They specifically stated that both of their children were to evenly split ownership and profit of the company regardless of any factor, including age." Rukia added, referring to the argument against her being too young to run the company. "I can give your father a management position in one of our regional offices, one that Byakuya rarely visits anyway. Usually those are the more successful branches which he doesn't worry about as much."

"It still sounds too risky. It's like a ticking time bomb, waiting to blow at any moment Byakuya finds a loophole." Ichigo reasoned since it honestly seemed too good to be true. The pessimistic voice in the back of his mind was telling him that something bad was bound to happen.

"If such a thing were to happen, that's where Kaien will step in." Nanao interjected.

"Although Kaien has no control over how business is conducted internally, his name grants him overruling rights." Nanao explained. "He can do as he pleases because his grandfather was a founding father of the company and he is the only heir to the Shiba name. Therefore if there's something he does not see fit, he has the privilege of taking action, perhaps reversing a decision made by Byakuya for instance."

Although he was quite floored at this bit of information, Ichigo's doubts were not fully erased. He needed to speak with his father about this. Seeing him silenced by his thought processes and perhaps inner turmoil, Rukia placed a hand atop Ichigo's knee, hoping to offer some comfort.

"Listen to me, Ichigo. Your father losing his job is also my burden to bear. I'm going to make things right again. I'm not going to fail you, Ichigo." She bore her lavender eyes into his amber ones once she gained his attention. "Please believe me."

Those words resonated strongly in his mind. He had said the same exact thing to her at a time when he truly felt alone at Takaimono Gakuen. She didn't believe him during that incident. Any other person would have asked why he should not do the same.

Was it in his own interest to gain some sort of revenge, to make her feel like he did during that time?

No, he decided. He was never that type of person.

"I do believe you." He said it out loud more to himself than to Rukia. It was a sort of a declaration as well as a step further for him in this complicated relationship of theirs. Believing one another led to building trust, and that's what Rukia needed the most from Ichigo.

She smiled at his response, her face brightening her delicate features. It was a genuine smile of happiness and a side of her that Ichigo realized he could get used to. Of course he was already accustomed to her glares of annoyance at him and those expressions of snootiness that came through every so often, but a smile from her brought out a different feeling within him. It caused him to smile back at her.

Nanao, who felt very awkward amongst two teens preoccupied with each other, coughed very loudly to snap Ichigo and Rukia out of their little reverie. They both quickly turned their heads toward her, their flushed faces caused by what Nanao would describe as overactive teenage hormones.

"We'll finalize the plan of action tomorrow once Ichigo speaks with his father and when Kaien-san returns tomorrow."

Orihime slowly flipped the thick pages of the photo album in front of her, reminiscing every moment within the snapshots. Her eyes roamed over then focused on a photo of a bespectacled boy alongside a younger version of herself at her 12th birthday party.

It was all together painful for her to recall that certain memory. It was a memory where she had decided, in all her naivety, that this was the boy she was going to marry. She held back a sob when she realized that she herself had shattered that dream.

Nanao had gotten a call from Byakuya luckily right after her discussion with Rukia and Ichigo ended. She silently waved goodbye to the both of them, bowed her head, and then literally ran out the room in her almost three inch heels nonetheless.

The both of them sat in silence after Nanao left, neither daring to look at one another. Ichigo avoided doing so lest he started getting that feeling again. Rukia reverted back to her casual, feigning carelessness demeanor like a pro.

Ichigo broke the silence after a moment, saying something that he patiently kept in the back of his mind until now. "You never spoke of your parents before. I'm sorry."

"Tch, what are you sorry for? There's nothing to be sorry about. You had nothing to do with it." Rukia scoffed. She focused her eyes on a piece of blue thread that was sticking out of the sleeve of her cashmere cardigan then picked at it with her fingers, seemingly trying to ignore the direction in which the conversation was heading.

Ichigo glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, sensing her avoidance. It was an enlightening moment of sorts when he finally understood that her diversion of topic was due to anger. He himself had gone through the same phase when he lost his mother a few years back. At that time he hated the world and everyone in it, so disgusted that such a horrible fate was granted to a person he loved and admired so greatly.

It was difficult for Ichigo, yes, but he was fortunate enough to have his father and sisters who together shared his pain and coped with Masaki's death. He and his family never fully recovered from the loss, and probably never would, but they dealt with it in different ways that was more in remembrance of their mother. It was a reminder that although she was gone physically, she would forever be present in their hearts and minds.

Ichigo presumed that Rukia had no such fortune of being able to share her pain of her parent's death considering how unemotional her brother was. He did not pity her though. Instead he empathized with her and figured out why she was acting this way.

"You don't have to tell me what happened to them." Ichigo said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's kind of ironic, but I know how you feel…" A pause. "I lost my mother when I was in junior high, a few years ago."

This revelation caused Rukia to stop her fidgeting with the thread. She stayed silent and kept her eyes downcast with ears intently listening to what Ichigo had to say.

"She had just dropped me off for soccer practice and as usual would walk back home since the practice field was a few blocks from our house." As Ichigo relived the moment, he felt like burying his face in his hands but instead clasped them tightly together. "She was walking on the crosswalk near the practice field when…" Ichigo gulped, his throat becoming dry. He coughed a bit in order to continue.

"She was struck by a speeding vehicle. The driver was intoxicated, had a dangerously high blood alcohol level or something." He sighed, unclasping his hands and using one to run a hand through his hair. "I remember seeing her body after the accident, so lifeless. I must've cried like a baby forever that I think the cops had to pull me away from her body." He laughed bitterly at the thought and sat back in cushions of the couch, staring up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"I was furious when I found out the driver had survived. He was sentenced to life in prison but that wasn't enough for me. I actually wanted him to die. Why could he live when he killed someone? Why did she have to lose her life when she had done nothing remotely wrong?"

Rukia dared to look over to him. She could hear the mix of sorrow and anger within his voice and now his pained expression only solidified this sense to be true.

"But then I realized, there was no use in thinking that way." Ichigo continued, his anger subsiding. "I had to accept the fact that my mother wasn't coming back. It took all my willpower to stop crying and finally accept it. I knew she wouldn't have wanted me to mope for the rest of my life. She would have wanted me to keep my strength and continue living without her. Although she would never be around, her impact on me would still hold strong. Because of that, I owe it to her to live my life to the fullest."

Ichigo concluded and exhaled a slow sigh of relief. It felt good to let it all out, as if an invisible weight was suddenly lifted off his back. He tilted his head toward his left, where Rukia sat. She was staring up at him, brow furrowed and her face looking as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

Ichigo instantly sprang into action, sitting upright. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He apologized profusely. "I didn't mean for you to cry. Please don't cry!"

Too late. Rukia's eyes brimmed with tears that started to fall slowly down her porcelain cheeks. Ichigo searched frantically around the room for a tissue box. He spotted one on the coffee table in front of him and grabbed a handful of tissues. He passed them over to Rukia one by one not minding that he was the recipient of said tissues once she had wiped her eyes and blown her nose. Lucky for him, a trash receptacle was not too far off from the couch to dispose of the tissues.

As if by instinct, she punched his arm. Ichigo flinched but did not mouth a word of protest despite mentally dreading the idea of a possible bruise forming there in the morning. "Idiot, I hate you for making me cry twice in one day."

"Eh? Twice in one day?" He repeated in confusion.

She shook her head of the thought and her cries quickly dwindled down to a mere sniffle. The room fell silent again. Ichigo waited and braced himself for whatever Rukia would do next.

He was more than taken aback when she thanked him.

"Thank you, Ichigo."

He assumed it was for the tissues and merely nodded. But he found out it was for a different reason when she further elaborated.

"Thank you… for telling me about your mother."

"Ah." He simply answered. He didn't expect her to elaborate on her parents, although he had intentionally started the conversation for her to do just that. He decided he could do with the somewhat mutual understanding they had between each other for now.

When Rukia was ready to tell him, she would. Ichigo was willing to wait.

AN: We're getting there, right? I hope you don't mind how I used some details off of the Bleach storyline in this chapter.

So this is my question for you all, well more for those who are familiar with HYD: would you like it if I somehow added the 'Teen Japan' contest into the story? If not, I'll probably end this story in a few chapters. But if I do add it in, the story might go on for at least ten more chapters. Ah, decisions, decisions!

Thanks all! Love you lots! :D