DISCLAIMER: PLEASE... I CAN'T MAKE CHARACTERS LIKE ICHIGO AND RUKIA, YOU NEED A GENIUS LIKE TITE KUBO TO MAKE BLEACH

Rukia couldn't breathe. Heck, she couldn't even think straight or even formulate a proper answer in her mind. She felt her senses go numb and her entire became paralyzed. Her eyesight was becoming blurry and her chest hurt like hell. It felt like there was a burning inferno in her chest and before she knew it, her entire being begun to shake. How could he look so calm as though nothing was wrong? How could he fail to understand the gravity of those cursed words that exited that flat line he called a mouth?

Of course he understood the gravity of those words. He was Byakuya Kuchiki, he always though before he spoke. He carefully chose his words and there was never a time that he verbally slipped up on anything. Rukia hoped she was dreaming, that when she woke up she would be in Ichigo's heated embrace after making love.

No, it was real.

She could feel her throat constriction and as each second passed, it was becoming harder and harder to breath. Finally, she had managed to vocalize a single sentence and she had hoped that the rest of her voice would follow.

"Wh-what did you say?"

Normally, he would've corrected her. Kuchikis don't stutter but oddly enough, he didn't. It was as if he was sympathizing with her. Well it was half assed sympathy.

"I am quite certain that I have made my point clear Rukia... This vote was unanimous Rukia. The elders can no longer stand your behavior, they find it unbefitting the Kuchiki family and this is their last act of kindness. I may be the head but the elders' opinions matter. Should I chose to disobey them frequently, there will be disunity in the family and we will lose our reputation, pride and dignity." he said sternly, he sounded like an emotionless robot. He sounded so uncaring that she felt like crying.

Rukia had never wanted to cry this bad since Hisana died.

He sighed. "I'm giving you until Friday to get it done. I'm expecting you to do your duty as a Kuchiki and while I am not planning to do so, you know what our relatives might do to him should you refuse."

All Rukia could do was nod obediently. She felt so empty, did something go wrong? Ichigo was perfect, Rukia even caught Byakuya smiling from a distance and to get that flat line to budge upwards was one of the most difficult things in the world to do.

She could feel her heart slowly dying the moment she saw that head of orange hair she loved so much. He was smiling as usual as he slowly walked to the table. "If this is of any comfort to you, know that I was outvoted and that I do approve of him."

Rukia's head quickly faced her brother and she found no signs of deceit on his face. He wasn't lying. Though what he said was partially true, Rukia didn't know a lot of things and she shouldn't. Rukia gave him the most painful expression to be ever concieved. It almost caught Byakuya surprised because she looked exactly like Hisana the day they told Hisana she was going to die soon.

"If that's the case... Then why can't you bend the rules? You understand don't you? You put everything at stake just to marry Hisana and to make me your sister, why can't you do the same for me... I didn't ask to be a Kuchiki but Hisana wanted me to have a family should she pass away so soon so I went with it. What's so wrong about Ichigo?"

Byakuya didn't answer her question. "I'm sorry but I no longer have that much power."

That was a total lie but with when she was being irrational, she didn't notice it. There was just something in those amethyst eyes the sisters had that could see past any lie but her current emotional instability was blinding that trait she shared with Hisana.

Ichigo finally walked up to her with a confident smile. Rukia forced herself to smile as though nothing was wrong. Luckily enough, he didn't notice that she was forcing herself and she had hoped she could keep this facade up. Byakuya stood up and shook Ichigo's hand. If Byakuya Kuchiki was the one who offered to shake hands, it was a sign of respect. Respect that was very hard to earn. Curse that anal-retentive family. Hisana was the one who managed to dislodge the stick put of Byakuya's ass that was why he was more lenient.

"So midget, ready to go?"

Rukia smiled and nodded. She held his hand and walked with him.

"Yeah, let's go."

She loved running; she loved running in the morning. She enjoyed running in the cold weather. It was one of the few things that made her forget her problems. After one final burst of speed, she could see the blinding orange sunrise. She reached the hill and sat down tiredly. She breathed heavily as a cool breeze hit her pale milky skin. Rukia closed her eyes and enjoyed the one of final breezes of winter before everything turned to spring. A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek and she finally managed to steady her breathing.

Another thing that made her forget her worries was making love with Ichigo. She just felt so safe and loved in his arms. She woke up this morning happy but her memories of the night before plagued her mind as soon as she got to the shower and began to wash all the soreness away. A downside to having sex with him was the soreness that came the next day.

There was also nothing wrong with sneaking out when he was sleeping. When he woke up, he'd just go to a tiny fit of rage before grabbing her and giving her another breath stealing soul sucking kiss then he'd be apologizing moments later. Ever since she found out his pattern, she began to intentionally sneak out as an excuse to kiss him. Rukia laughed at herself as she watched the sun rise.

Ah well, she doubted that it was acceptable to have Kiyone walk in on them for work when Ichigo was kissing the ever loving daylights out of her. That was just the downside when they had sex at her place. Now the downside of having sex at his place was that she would normally oversleep and she would be met with a grinning Momo who was there for some much needed breakfast.

Rukia was slowly drifting off to a short nap on the hill when she heard a familiar boo that surprised her. She nearly fell backwards and she let out a small yelp. She looked up and scowled. "You can't do that."

"Says the woman who left me all alone in the nude without a blanket."

She smirked. "I figured you would wake up faster that way. Don't tell me you got morning wood from the cold?"

He laughed as he bent down till their noses were touching. Kissing upside down, that's new. "Rukia, you know how I get hard and it's not because of the cold." he said in a sexy way as he took her lips.

Uncomfortable as it was, it felt kind of good. He finally tore himself from her lips and shifted his position so he was facing her properly. "We are so trying that again when you're not straining you back just to kiss me."

"On the couch it is." Rukia declared as the couple was hit by another gust of wind.

Ichigo pushed Rukia down against the soft and well-maintained grass of the hill. No one came to this small hill when it was this early in the morning. Ichigo leaned down and kissed her. He didn't waste anytime assaulting so sensually that all her brain receptors ceased to function properly. That was just him kissing her without his tongue. He finally shoved his tongue in and Rukia didn't even need to think about letting him in. It became second nature to her. They only stopped when they finally heard the sound of dogs barking indicating that the dog walkers were present and with dog walkers came the early morning park goers. They looked at each other and laughed. Ichigo got off of Rukia and helped her to sit back up.

Rukia smiled as she rested her head against his chest as the sky turned a little less orange but it still complimented his hair to a T. "I love you... You know that right?"

He smiled as he held her close. "Of course I do, just like how you know that I love you." he chuckled.

She could hear his clear and steady heartbeat. Having him next to her have her some much needed comfort but then friday wasn't exactly far away. She trusted Byakuya to have done his very best. The other Kuchikis just couldn't stand it. They didn't understand anything beyond their anal retentive brains. Though what they hated the most was how Rukia was next in line for the Kuchiki Corporation.

They didn't want some adopted person to be the next head of the corporation nor did they want some woman who was easily swayed by emotions to lead. They think they know so much about her when all they truly know about her was from the news on tv. Too bad for them though, Byakuya didn't even trust them a micron. A micron was the unit used to measure tiny microscopic things like a cell under a microscope. Such nearly nonexistent trust.

Pitiful.

Rukia felt like crying. She did her hardest to forget but it just wasn't enough. She couldn't, how could he ask her to do that with such a straight face? It was just so heartless. She couldn't cry, not when he was here. If that were the case then he'd find out.

Ichigo can't find out.

She just stayed there in his embrace until little children slowly invaded their hill. The couple stood up and walked down the hill slowly. It was only then that Rukia realized that he had his full head of orange hair out in the open and that he was wearing a form-fitting shirt that made it hard for Rukia to focus. Especially since he still had some sweat from trying to catch up to Rukia, she could see his well-defined abdomen she enjoyed running her hands over.

Was it wrong to thoroughly enjoy her exceedingly handsome boyfriend?

He really did make her forget a lot of things.

Rukia decided to run a little faster than Ichigo just so that he wouldn't see her face.

Ichigo felt extremely nervous. He had never tried to do this before. He was anxious and his heart was pounding as he found the store he had been looking for in the distance. Falling in love was hard for him and Rukia so this was going to be alright. It wasn't too soon to be getting this and there was no way they would ever file papers for anything like that in the long run.

He forced his legs and his feet to move towards the store. He just wanted to get this done and over with and he hoped that the store clerks were professional enough not to mention this to anyone. He forced himself through the fancy glass door and he was greeted politely. By the way they greeted him knowing full well about his head of orange hair.

"May we help you sir?"

"Yeah... I just need assistance for things like these... What would girls like?" he asked.

The attendant chuckled. "This if for Ms. Kuchiki am I wrong? Then I suggest we find something that accentuates her eyes. They are rather unique." she said with a soft Mona Lisa smile and displayed him all the items that would fit in his category. Money wasn't the issue.

He looked at them but he was a guy so he was a tad bit overwhelmed. Then again, that was why the store clerks were women.

Rukia was a rather simple woman.

Somewhere in the corner of his eye. He saw something that was practically yelling her name. It was simple yet elegant and sophisticated. Just like her, and that amethyst gem was the exact color of her eyes. It was the same exact shade of amethyst she had. The thing holding the amethyst gem was some brilliant silver that made it look sleek. It suited her so well. He felt anxious, maybe it was too soon.

"You don't think it's too soon?" he asked the clerk.

She pondered over it. "Two months is fine but I suggest you wait another month but it depends on how long you've known her."

"That makes it another month and a half."

Then she smiled. "I believe it's quite alright then. Will you be buying it sir?" she asked professionally.

He nodded after swallowing thickly. Yeah, he was ready. There was no lingering doubt in his mind, he wanted this. He walked up to the counted and after they placed it in a little blue box, he brought out a credit card.

"If this makes you feel any better sir, there were more nervous men before you." the attendant reassured him as she took the card and swiped it.

"It's not everyday you do this you know? I don't enjoy having having meaningless relationships after meaningless relationships. I doubt I'm doing this again..." he commented as he wrote his signature.

"Not to be rude sir but we didn't assume that kind of logic from you."

"I don't mind. It's my bad boy image that makes people think I've slept with hundreds of women and had just as many girlfriends but truth be told I could count all of them with my two hands."

She only smiled. "Good luck Mr. Kurosaki."

He said a pleasant goodbye as he slipped the tiny blue box safely in his coat pocket. He held it in his pocket, afraid to lose it as he walked on the street. He quickly placed his hat on to cover his orange hair as he walked and people barely noticed him. He felt so light, as though there were no more chains to shackle and bind him.

He stopped for the moment to look at the blue sky. She always did love such high places didn't she. He smiled as he closed his eyes for a moment before walking again.

Hey Senna... You were right, you're probably gonna have a field day... I hope that in your next life, you'll be able to love someone better and live as I have done.

Rukia walked aimlessly around the city. Did Byakuya honestly expect her to keep living knowing that Ichigo was in the same city as her. Sure, Karakura was pretty big but a city has limits. She enjoyed this city a lot and she enjoyed the places here.

The public park she frequented. There was this fantastic art gallery with Greek columns that made it look sophisticated and modern. Just a few ways from the city itself was Chappy Land and there were a couple of major yet unique malls in the area. City hall and the Supreme Court were an architerctural spectacle. She grew up in this city and she never had the urge to leave it.

Until now that is.

If she was going to do what Byakuya wanted her to do, then she needed to leave. She couldn't stand knowing he would be so close and so near to her. It would be all the more painful but she couldn't leave. The Kuchikis were here and they expected her to reel her emotions in and to perform her duty as a Kuchiki and that meant staying.

Rukia hugged her jacket as she watched the people in the park. She just sat at the bench quietly and began to regret ever bringing Ichigo into her mess. She closed her eyes and willed herself to just take a short nap to clear her head when she felt someone sit beside her. She was ready to glare at him but she couldn't.

"Yo." he said.

"Hey Grimmjow..." she greeted back miserably.

"You look down." he commented bluntly. His lean form was sitting casually on the wooden bench. He looked as handsome as ever but he had yet to get rid of those ridiculous blue marks under his eyes.

She sighed and massaged her temples. "Down is an understatement."

"Is it Kurosaki?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Can't be Ichigo... Never Ichigo..." she replied.

"I'm not expecting you to pour your heart out but if you can tell me, I'll do my job as a friend to help you out." he said casually.

She smiled softly. "It's the cavalry."

He smiled turned into a frown in a snap. He looked back to a pair of children who were playing on the seesaw. "Oh... They're still at it I see... They weren't just satisfied with driving me out. They didn't stop with Shiba either; they drove him to the edge. If it wasn't for the fact that he was a respectable member of the District Attorney's office then he'd be a goner like me."

Rukia nodded. "Who... Who the hell do they want? I didn't do anything wrong, all I do is fall in love. Where's the crime in that..."

"They want some rich company owner guy who's old enough to be your father and pops little blue pills in when he's in the company of some blond bimbos." he stated bluntly. It was true.

That line made her laugh a bit. "I haven't heard from you for three weeks... How's it going with that girl you met?"

He flushed red. "She's fine... Nel is just fine..."

"You are so twisted. Dating the twin sister of my case victim during my comeback trial... That is just demented."

His head turned towards her direction. "Shut up! I just happened to meet her okay! She's still depressed about her sister Nelliel but she's eternally grateful to you for giving Noitra three life sentences." he snapped at her.

She chuckled. Teasing him was still child's play. "Tell her I said: your welcome." Rukia replied.

Grimmjow ruffled his blue hair and wrapped an arm around her as if to comfort her. "Look, be patient. You're brother's bound to step down and you'll be the new head. You're twenty seven and your brother is forty six. He'll retire eventually then you can go off, ignore the rules for once and marry Kurosaki... That's a plan."

She leaned against his shoulder. Being the shoulder to cry on made him feel a bit gay since guys who were shoulders to cry on ended up becoming romantic interests and that phase was long over. "If only it were that easy... My biggest fear is that I'd fall out of love. I don't want to forget Ichigo. If I forget him then it would mean that we weren't mean to be. I don't want that to be a reality."

"It won't... Have you told Momo?"

"Not yet..." she replied.

He breathed in deeply. "Talk to her, you could seriously use a friend like her considering that she's your personal therapist."

"You okay comforting me like this? The paparazzi might take it the wrong way." she said. "And you're my ex too, they're gonna have a field day."

"There's nothing wrong with comforting a friend, he'll still believe in you." Grimmjow reassured her.

"Not after what I'm supposed to do to him... He's going to hate me." Rukia said bitterly as she closed her eyes.

He sighed as he placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "One of your flaws is overanalyzing things. Stop it, if I were him, I wouldn't stop loving you."

"It's not that convincing coming from you who stayed in love with me until a few months ago. You only moved on when you met Nel." Rukia said with a sideways glance.

He withdrew his hand and laughed nervously. "Can we not talk about that?"

She held off a snicker. "It's been years yet you're still the same sissy I dated, acting all tough and trying to be a delinquent when you were a total softy on the inside."

He flushed red. "I was tough! Goddamn it Rukia, you can't do that! What if Nel was here! What would she think of me!"

"That she was dating a wimp?"

"Hell no!" he said before cursing under his breath. "This is one of the reasons why I can't stand you, look just go back to your orange headed love of your life and have fun before time runs out. Go screw like rabbits or go to cheesy dates for all I care, there is no good solution right now. Your family has ways to ruin you two."

She laughed as she stood up. She smiled at him. "Thanks Grimmjow... You've matured you know... Nel's a lucky girl."

He smiled back. "Take care of yourself your shortness."

She scowled. "Did you just insult my height?"

He nodded. "Damn, that looks like a Kurosaki scowl..."

Rukia flushed red and looked away. "Shut up, he hasn't been scowling lately and since I love his scowl it kinda got stuck on me." she said before glaring at him. "What's wrong with that!"

He shook his head. "Absolutely nothing, good luck Rukia."

"Let's hope we meet again Grimmjow."

"I'd like that... Maybe when that happens, we'd be on a double date. What do you say Kuchiki?"

"You're on."

Momo came rushing over to the cafe. They sky was already pitch black and the cafe lights were on. Customers were in for dessert and Kiyone was going to end her shift in an hour and that was when Rukia would take it from there for the next hour. She pushed the classy door and quickly asked Kiyone where Rukia was. Kiyone answered calmly, she had already grown accustomed to Momo's random outbursts.

Momo went upstairs to find Rukia in the guest room where Ichigo had decided to generously leave the television set he bought along with that PS3 he bought for the sole reason of fulfilling his guy needs in a girl's house. She found Rukia playing a game where the main character looked like Ichigo except with weird things that looked like skulls on him. He was hacking and slashing at things before Rukia paused, exited and played another character who was just as short as her and the weapon was a Katana as white as the snow itself.

If she was hacking and slashing then she must be stressing over something. You don't hack and slash unless it was your outlet.

"Hey Rukia..."

"Hey Momo..." she greeted back as she performed her character's signature move wiping out a lot of those monsters. She then paused the game and looked at Momo.

"Is it alright for a twenty seven year old female district attorney to be playing video games on a PS3?"

"Depends on why you're playing it." Momo replied as she sat next to Rukia on the spare bed there.

"Is that so?"

"Where's Ichigo?" Momo inquired as she took the controller for herself and tried playing it only to fail epically. Rukia just sighed and turned the console off.

"He's at Tatsuki's... Says it's an emergency." Rukia replied.

"Ah well, so what is it do you want to talk about?"

"What do you think is the thing I fear the most?" Rukia asked sternly as she looked Momo straight in the eye.

"Being helpless and being the reason for another's suffering?" Momo asked.

Rukia shook her head. "I do fear those but I hate them more than I fear them. The other one." she said.

Momo pondered over it a bit as she plopped down on the soft bed in though while Rukia remained in fetal position. "Oh, the cavalry..."

"Exactly... Now what do you think the Kuchikis are dying to do to me?" she asked.

"Disown you?" Momo answered as she looked at Rukia with a raised eyebrow.

"That's one but they can't do that. Think about what they can do?"

Momo thought about it even harder. She was taking too long so Rukia gave her a hint.

"What would've happened to Grimmjow if that incident never happened." Rukia said. Remembering that incident was never a pleasant memory and so that ended her first real relationship. Her literal first relationship didn't exactly count since they guy ended up being a total douche bag. She thanked God everyday that she didn't stupidly lose her virginity to that guy.

Momo was silent. Her eyes opened wide and she suddenly sat upright. She tried to form a sentence and was truly flabbergasted with how Rukia didn't show any grief. "They're... Going to tear you and Ichigo apart?" she asked. Her voice was shaking.

Rukia nodded as she closed her eyes. "The cruel thing is that I'm doing the separating... I... Can't do a thing... I just can't... I truly wish that I could he like Ichigo. Not caring about what the world says but I can't... There's just too much at risk." she said.

"R-Rukia? Have you cried yet?"

"How can I! How can I cry when I'm in front of him... I can't cry, not in front of Ichigo!" she said while her voice was beginning to crack up.

Momo felt how heartbroken Rukia was. She moved closer and hugged Rukia tightly. "Ichigo's not here right now... Go ahead."

"I've spent all day trying not to cry... I don't know if I can cry now." Rukia said as she tightened her embrace. Having her best friend near her was some comfort.

"Momo... Can you promise me that once I... I..."

"You don't have to say it."

Rukia clutched Momo's shirt. "Don't tell Ichigo... Please... I don't want him to convince me otherwise when I've finally accepted what I need to do."

Finally, the tears surfaced and Rukia's voice was cracking and falling apart. "I'm going to break his heart Momo... I'm going to flat out reject him... I... I..."

Rukia swallowed thickly as the tears poured. Momo held Rukia and tried to comfort Rukia. It's been such a long time since Rukua cried like this. The last time she cried like this was when Kaien was being gutted right in front of her. No, that wasn't accurate. The last time she cried with such agony was when Hisana breathed her last breathe.

"I'm going to tell him I don't love him anymore."

AN: This chapter is breaking my heart. My heart was slowly dying when I wrote it. I mean... I know I wrote it an all but I feel so bad... Having to show so many emotions in this chapter. This chapter is all about Rukia and maybe some of you have already guessed and it's something I'm extremely bitter about because I only have an XBOX 360, that game Rukia was playing was Bleach Soul Ignition for the Sony PS3.

I didn't know I could write something that could break my own heart.

I mean... I just played out what I wanted to happen in my head like a movie. That's how I write, I play it in my head then I describe the movie but imagining Rukia's sorrow felt... Too much... Just way too much.

Ah finally, I have wifi... Posting this new chapter real quick before my Internet disappears on me because highways don't have wifi. Wrote the two paragraphs up there in a car, I was on a road trip. Long weekend and all.

So as compensation for updating late and that not too outstanding chapter. Here's this one, written really quick! Actually, I wrote this as soon as I finished the previous one. I found my streak again.

No, have to leave again!

AkaBaka-chan signing off!