andyantopia, ra7matigorti2 ( yep, there's plenty of time for Byakuya. He let her go now, but don't believe that he's out of the picture), annia9semi, Phantom Claire, Wintersia (thank you for the compliments), Hekka, Neevey, saiya-jinPan140, ej ( evil mind, haha. I liked this one), Yukihime (actual i will write a story about Byakuya as a sequal), tituslepetitlion (pas assez misterieux, attends pour le chapitre suivant, tout claire la), xandrick723 ( thank you& and good intuition by the way), rndd, SchelmaAnimeFan, purplepam, Guest, zcEskA12352 - thank you for the reviews :)

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I'm sorry, i know i update really slow, but that's because i don't have so many time for writing as i used to have and i really hope that i won't have to stop writing this story, since there are still a lot things to tell in it...:(

But anyway, enjoy!

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Happiness is a selfish thing

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"Hitomi ! Tell me what is this ?! "The chef maid snapped at the little girl, as she was showing her a messy hotel room. "This was supposed to be cleaned until now! Go and clean it NOW! I'll go and check the other rooms and if they're not in perfect condition you're fired!"

As the girl left almost crying the chef made turned to the room behind her and opened it. The moment she saw the sheets of the bed thrown on the floor, she put an angry grimace and hissed:

"That's it, Hitomi! You're fired!"

And she entered the room, starting to clean it. When she reached the bedside she found a note which she curiously took and read: "I'll be back before noon so I'll see you at home. Soon! »

"Right!" She hissed. I would have preferred a tip instead of cheesy love notes."

She crumpled the note, throwing it put in the trashcan and then she approached the bed, pulling the sheets. Surprisingly the sheets didn't move as if someone was staying on them. She frowned confused, because the bed was empty, so she pulled once again… without actually knowing that in the on the bed, in that moment, a substitute shinigami was sleeping naked.

Ichigo suddenly opened his eyes as he felt the sheets disappeared from him and when he saw the maid in front of him, he started to yell, immediately reaching for his clothes. The maid of course didn't notice anything and when he remember that he was invisible, in his shinigami form he also noticed that Rukia was missing, being nowhere in the hotel room…

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Byakuya locked himself in the study. He was late for work, but somehow, he felt that he couldn't move. He knew that Rukia was still inside the manor. He knew that she was packing and he felt that 'a couple of rooms away' will be the closest he'd be to her for a long time starting now… maybe even for the rest of his life.

Then he saw on the window, Haruna's making her appearance with a delicate shunpo. She turned to him and their eyes met for a second. They didn't exchange any word, though, because Haruna slowly continued to walk on the porch. He knew where she was heading, but he didn't have the strength to stop her. Not anymore. In that morning he felt tired, as if all his strength had left him.

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Haruna walked calmly on the porch while the servants were one by one greeting her. She didn't answer to any of them and continued and when she reached Rukia's room. There she opened the door without knocking and stopped in the threshold with dark frown on her porcelain forehead.

"You really messed it up, this time, Kuchiki-sama" she intoned as she was Rukia packing her belongings.

Rukia stopped for a moment and looked at the speechless.

"So where are you heading now? Back to your lover boy?" Haruna asked maliciously. "I guess that in your situation there can't be any other place to head to …"

Again, Rukia didn't say anything.

"What I wonder though is how long you are going to hide it…" Haruna insisted and this time a menacing sparkle flashed on Rukia's violet eyes.

"Oh…" Haruka hissed faking a surprised expression. "You thought I wouldn't notice? My dear, I've been there before you were even born. Who do you think you can fool with that instable reiatsu of yours?" she added with abhorrence.

"Leave." Rukia said coldly.

Haruna smiled though and approached her, whispering in her ear:

"You know what, Kuchiki Princess? I've promised myself that I will kill anybody that will hurt Byakuya…"

"Therefore you should kill yourself." Rukia replied icily and made Haruna back off two steps. "Don't look so surprise. You though I wouldn't notice?" she added twisting her words. "The blade with which Oza tried to kill me was a kazuki blade, which makes me wonder who gave it to him and with what intentions?"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THAT BLADE! You know nothing about Oza!" Haruna growled with her face transfigured from hate.

"Indeed, as you don't know anything about me… and Ichigo! Therefore, if I were you I would learn to keep my mouth shut and pretend I haven't seen anything!"

Haruna frown with anger and approached Rukia again. She violently raised her hand slapped her over the face.

"You whore!" she hissed with tears in her eyes. "I trusted him to you! I allowed you to marry him! You were supposed to make him happy! You were supposed to succeed where I failed! And what have you done?! You opened you legs in front the first men that came across you!"

But Rukia stood still as a statue, with her chin high, piercing the desperate noble woman with her coldest glare.

"I will say one thing to you, Haruna Ryoing. The only reason for which I accepted this palm was because I knew that Byakuya-sama was too kind hit me, but if you say one more word or if you draw one more gesture I swear that i will put you in prison for treason."

Haurna backed off scared and Rukia approached the chest in which she put her belongings.

"And also, you should stop playing the victim, because things as they are in this moment turned out to be for your own good. You say that you wanted me to succeed where you failed, but I can see the envy in your eyes. I saw it even from the first encounter we had at your welcome party, when you told me that you used to be engaged to Byakuya-sama and that Ukitake-sama wanted you as his lieutenant. In other words, you should thank me Haruna Ryoing, because I'm giving you the chance to set things right."

She closed the chest and Haruna, still crying, helplessly fell on her knees.

"As a matter a fact, the only reason for which I haven't denounced you to my captain all this time, was because I know what Byakuya-sama means to you." Rukia added.

Haruna's eyes widened.

"When I was dying and Byakuya-sama risked his life to save me, I saw the person who saved him. It was you, Haruna Ryoing."

She turned to the noble woman.

"Your feelings for him are stronger that your own life and that's why, no matter how much I dislike you, I am relieved to know that I'm entrusting him to you. I don't trust you as person, but I know that you'll do anything in your power to protect Byakuya-sama who, just like Ichigo, is my most precious person."

And after she said that, she grabbed her chest and headed to the door. When she passed beside Haruna, she stopped for a moment though and threw in her lap two kenseikans: the one she received when she was named the heir of the Kuchiki clan and the one she received when she became Byakuya's fiancée.

"Take my place and set things right this time…" she added and left.

Like this, Haruna remained alone in the room and looked speechlessly at the two kenseikans, as her tears dried off.

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Rukia walked on the halls of the Kuchiki manor holding her chin high and her back straight. It was her last march as a noble and she tried to stick to it until the end, but at half distance, tears started to fall down her cheeks. In that moment only one thought was haunting her mind:

'Byakuya, happiness is such a selfish thing… Byakuya, i…'

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Ichigo couldn't find Rukia anywhere. He couldn't feel her reiatsu either… and yet he didn't want to believe that she left him without saying a word. He was ready to make her all kind of excuses, more or less plausible, but he didn't want to accept that she had left him. It would have meant too much for him and he didn't know if he would have the strength to forgive her…

He didn't want to be played as a fool, since he put all his heart for her, so he headed home hoping that he will find her there arguing his father, or watching tv… or doing anything else that might have still turned that day into a normal one. The moment he stepped in the house though and saw Isshin staying at the kitchen table with a grave expression, as if he was waiting for him, he had the darkest presentiment.

He looked at his father and when he noticed that he was ready to speak he shook his head, as if he wasn't ready to face the truth. Then he noticed that he was holding a strange ring on his hands.

"Have a seat, Ichigo…" Isshin invited him.

He hesitantly approached and Isshin handed him the ring.

"What is this?" he asked with a white voice.

"It's a Kuchiki seal." Isshin answered and a deep silence overwhelmed the kitchen, as Ichigo looked curiously at the little object.

"To be more precisely, it's an engagement ring held in the possession of the clan's head until he passes it to the woman he ought to marry with" Isshin added.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked at his father.

"… And it's Rukia's ring." Isshin concluded.

In that moment that all his strength vanished and he leaned on the chair next to him. He felt stupid, but more than that he wished to be stupid and not able to understand his father's words.

Rukia and… Byakuya…

Both of them, behind his back.

The memories of the last two months came back to him in that moment and he slowly beginning understood.

When she came back from Soul Society she was crying "Forgive me! Please forgive me".

Then later that night when she started to talk nonsense about her and Byakuya getting along during the last six years in which they haven't seen each other. He asked her if she was in love with Byakuya, even though he felt stupid of asking such a meaningless question. Yet, she didn't answer that question. Only now, he finally noticed that.

Then, when she was dying from the kazuki blade stab… when went to get her back… When he held her heart in his hands, among all her memories and feelings, there was always Byakuya's presence.

Now he finally understood…

"When she came back from Seireitei I welcomed her and asked her to show me the ring you gave to her, but instead I found this ring on her finger." Isshin said.

He finally understood how stupid he was all this time.

"When you came in the house, she immediately took of the ring and handed it to me, asking to not tell you a word about it. Forgive me, Ichigo, I kept this from you all this time, because I believed that It was a misunderstanding and that Rukia will find a way to clear things up, but last night, when she returned to Seireitei, I believe that she cleared her intentions and therefore I considered that you deserve to know the truth. I'm sorry…"

Ichigo clench his fist with anger and hid the ring inside it.

"That… bitch!" he hissed and got up from the table, leaving the house in hurry. He didn't have any place to run to, but he knew that he had reached his limit. No matter how much he wanted, he couldn't forget her. Not this time…

And then the rain started to fall again.

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I know not very long... and Ichigo was really harsh on the last one... Normally he wouldn't have said something like this about any woman, especially about the one he loves, but i wanted to point out that he really reached his limit. O.o

Anyway i'll try to come back in the week-end with another chapter, let me know what you think until then!