DISCLAIMER: I don't own bleach nor do I own that chapter title. It's from Ichigo's version of the bleach character guide SOULs and VIBEs. Some of the references and some of the lines come from the bleach series itself. If you recognize them in my entire fic then kudos for you.

"Rukia..."

He didn't understand. What just happened? What happened? Rukia's clothes weren't in her closet, her belongings weren't around and all that was left were the things she could simply leave. How long had he been kneeling there? The sun was already shining so bright outside. He couldn't feel his legs, hell he couldn't feel his knuckles due to how hard he was clutching the ring. His mouth was dry and his once burning amber eyes ceased to burn with it's usual fire.

Stand up... You goddamn idiot! Stand up! Run... She's shouldn't have gone too far! Run goddamn it!

He couldn't... He couldn't move his limbs. Why? He felt like he was paralyzed from the waist down... No wait, even from the waist up, he was also paralyzed. And that pain... It hurt. He felt like he was burning in the harshest flames to have ever come to existence. Why did it hurt? No shit Sherlock, he was in love with her. Did Rukia Kuchiki just leave? Maybe she was just going somewhere important...

Stop lying to yourself.

"Ichigo... If you take one step from there I'll never forgive you."

Thats what she said in the coldest harshest tones she could come up with yet he remembered hearing the slight cracks in her voice as she said it and with that, she left without a word. It truly meant what it did. She even left his ring. She gave it back, what more proof did he need to thoroughly understand that Rukia Kuchiki had gone and left it.

She broke up with him. She dumped him. She rejected him. He could change the words but it wouldn't make a difference. It would still mean the same. That look in her eyes...

She really did leave him.

Why? Was it something he did? But she accepted his proposal. He knew that smile, it was real. It was impossible to fake that smile and not once did her hear any hesitation or insincerity whenever she told him she loved him. Yes, past tense was already applicable here. She loved him. Did something go wrong halfway through? Could people really fall out of love with someone? But what she said last night...

"But trust me when I say you've made me happier than I have ever been in my life."

Was that already a sign. Were those parting words? But then there was that awkward moment when Rukia snuck out to go running again. When he caught up with her and kissed her she said something odd.

"I love you... You know that right?"

That wasn't too long ago when she said that.

He didn't understand. He knew nothing. He understood nothing. He couldn't even feel his heart beating anymore. It was like he had a hole in his chest. Like he was simply hollow there. His mind was filled with images of her and nothing but her. What made it worse was the thought that he lost her and he still had this small 1% chance of getting her back unlike with Senna whom he had no chance at all.

It's not like Rukia died... She's still in town unless she intended to leave.

He could call Momo or Renji.

Not like they would answer him and even if they did, he doubted he could get any of them to fess up.

So this is what an honest to goodness heartbreak feels like.

He felt like shit.

What kind of sentence was that. Why did he stutter, he couldn't easily run after her yet all he did was fall to his knees and tremble. Since when was he this weak and he didn't understand why but at that time, he felt so helpless.

Weak... Too weak...

His hands trembled as he used his arms to support his weight so he could stand. As soon as he managed to get on his own two feet but he nearly fell of balance. He grasped the nearest table and pulled himself back up. He felt absolutely nothing at this point. He glanced at the clock and noticed how be had been kneeling there for more than half an hour and he was already bordering an hour of kneeling.

He then noticed how numb his lower body felt due to lack of blood circulation. He just stared blankly at the stairs and made a split second decision to go back up so he could get his things. He was just following some routine his brain gave him. He went back to Rukia's room to grab his discarded blazer and wore it casually. He found his tie and placed it loosely around his neck.

His eyes trailed to the Chappyesque sheets before they trailed towards her drawer. Without thinking, he pulled it open. He didn't feel any disappointment when he saw that it was empty. He should've known, all her important belongings were in this very drawer so it was only natural that she emptied it out. Why did he allow such hope to consume him? There was no way she would leave something for him.

Wait... She did leave something.

The ring.

He forced himself turn around and to shut his senses off. He didn't want to be filled with her scent or he would lose the newly found control he had just gained. He needed to get out of this place full of memories of her if he was going to accept her decision. If he could accept it that is. He needed to resist the urge to stay. She's smart woman, she wouldn't risk coming back here so there was absolutely no reason why he should stay.

He walked out and touched the walls.

Strangely, he had a feeling that Rukia did exactly what he was doing right now. He could tell that wherever his hand was on the wall was where Rukia's hand was on as well. How he knew that was a mystery but he took it as a sign of slowly slipping into insanity. He went into the rooms to look for anything she might've left behind. He entered the storeroom he never dared to enter before out of fear for Rukia's unwanted wrath. He saw a familiar pure white blade on a stand. It was as white as snow and it showed no signs of dirt or stains whatsoever.

One particular blade caught his attention. It was the complete opposite of Rukia's preferred Katana, it was black and red. It also had a black chain attached rather then a white ribbon. He felt drawn to it but made no effort to take a few more steps inside the room. If he touched any of them without any Kuchiki consent, he'd be castrated by her brother.

He closed the door and forced himself not to look at any of the rooms anymore. He slowly walked down the stairs, his hands slid against the smooth wood of the rails and once he got down, the sun had shone brighter. The morning was getting later and later.

The door swung open but Ichigo's heart didn't sway. He knew it wouldn't be Rukia anyway.

"Ah! Mr. Ichigo... You're still here...?"

He looked at her in such a dead blank expression. This was supposed to be the man who had the kind of eyes that burned and warmed up the people around him. His eyes were just... Cold. "Kiyone... Why are you here this early?" he asked in such a flat dead voice. It just wasn't that young passionate actor anymore.

"I... I was told to clean up..."

"I see... Rukia right...?"

She nodded softly. "Haven't you heard? There's some guy who's been pestering her for weeks, he wants to buy this cafe and make it a book cafe... She just sold it and was allowed a few days before the guy would start coming here... I'm suppose to work for the new cafe as well, that was her condition for selling the shop..."

He shrugged. He didn't feel so surprised anymore. "Knowing her, she's probably been thinking this through all week huh...?"

Kiyone didn't understand. "I think you should leave sir..." she said weakly.

"Yeah, I ought to." he replied so deadpan, it was frightening in a way. He walked past her and back out on the cold street.

It was cold now... Spring would follow and everything will be warm again in the summer. Then it's gonna get cold again. Relationships may stop but time would never halt for anything. It would take a while, maybe even a year but he would move on.

Tatsuki gritted her teeth as she grabbed the collar of Rukia's shirt, lifting her slightly off the ground. How could she do that? How could she have such a blank expression on her face despite knowing what she did. Tatsuki didn't understand. Those amethyst eyes looked so pale now. Did Rukia even feel any remorse?

"Do you fucking realize what you've done Rukia! Do you know... Just what you did!" Tatsuki yelled at her and Rukia didn't even flinch.

Rukia simply closed her eyes and managed to get Tatsuki to unhand her. She didn't look at Tatsuki at all and what pissed Tatsuki off the most wasn't just how Rukia acted but how Renji knew about it and still followed Rukia's decision.

Tatsuki had finally managed to get Renji to fess up last night but Renji managed to conceal at least one secret and that was the fact that Rukia's brother asked her to this but aside from that, he spilled everything. The first thing Tatsuki did was run off to storm Rukia's apartment. Once she got there, all he'll broke loose and not even Renji could stop her.

It was so hard for her best friend to fall in love again.

"It was my decision... You have no right to question it." Rukia replied in such a technical robot way. It was such a Kuchiki tone.

"I... I can understand if you broke up with him... Of your own accord because you wanted to... Was last night a lie? Why did you accept Rukia! You made him so happy... And that smile, don't you dare tell me you weren't happy! I can still see it now no matter how cold you are... You love Ichigo!" Tatsuki countered by yelling.

For once, Rukia's facial expression changed slightly. She bit her lip and faced Tatsuki. "I have my reasons and they most certainly don't concern you Tatsuki..."

"Don't concern me...? Don't concern me my ass! You're still gonna keep saying that! You broke my best friend's heart... He's probably in so much pain right now!"

"I know... I know that..." Rukia said weakly, it was the first trace of regret Tatsuki heard from Rukia.

There was more to this. There was something going on.

"Okay fine... Let's put it this way... Aside from the fact that Ichigo's best friend, I'm also his manager... This break up is going to greatly affect his career and if he crashes and burns then the blame is all on you."

Rukia laughed through her nose. She was mocking Tatsuki. "That's low... Even for you Tatsuki. I know what you do for him, those deals behind his back... They are beneficial to both parties yes but nonetheless, they're still behind his back. What you're saying is really low."

Tatsuki just gritted her teeth, her knuckles were already going white.

"I thought you were his friend... You should know this by now but there's no way he'll let something like this drag him down... You can't make me feel guilty Tatsuki..."

Tatsuki was snarling at Rukia at this point and she turned around and stormed out of the room shouting to Renji that she was going ahead of him. Renji just sighed and walked up to Rukia. He patted her head. "You okay...?"

She nodded softly, she pressed her forehead against his chest and after a few seconds, Renji could hear her softly crying. "Shh... Come on Rukia... Don't cry... Ichigo hates it when you cry."

"R-Renji... I don't know how long I can hold myself together before I break." she whimpered.

"You'll be fine... You'll get through all right... Look, I need to calm Tatsuki down okay...?"

She nodded softly.

Renji took a glance around. "You should clean up a bit... You haven't been in here for three years."

"I'll do that."

Renji separated from her and looked down. She managed to stop her tears but her eyes were really red. Renji couldn't even produce a reassuring smile when he opened the door.

"We're here for you... Me and Momo... Always."

Then the door closed.

Rukia wiped away a stray tear and literally crashed on her couch. She looked around the apartment and sighed softly.

"It looks so foreign to me now."

Ichigo was just limply watching TV now. What could he do on his break anyway? He finally got a break from his career and he was hoping on spending it with Rukia but look what happened. Now he was spending his little vacation all alone. He was lonely and he only had the company of alcohol at this point but he could only drink beer because anything other than beer reminded him of Rukia and that night with alcohol.

She gave him a lot of things except beer.

So it was the one thing he could drunk without being reminded of her as well as it being the one thing he could stay sober enough with.

His phone rang and he took it absentmindedly. He placed it against his hear and said hello in such a dead manner.

"Ichigo..."

"Dad...? Why are you calling? I haven't heard you for over two months..."

"I know... I've been busy."

What's this...? He's not obnoxious, he's actually serious for once. What's going on?

"So why are you calling...?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm giving you once chance son and one chance only..."

"Dad? What're you-"

"Let me finish talking... Do you want to get back Rukia?"

Ichigo's eyes widened significantly. His hand quivered as he gripped the phone. What nonsense is this...?

"H-how... Dad you-"

"I'm not going to answer you. One of the Kuchiki elders has passed away. Rukia is to board the train towards the funeral site which is out of town. If you can win her over before she leaves, you can go to the funeral yourself and win the Kuchikis' favor. Kuchikis favor those who honor them, your presence will he favorable."

Ichigo swallowed thickly. "Wh-when...?"

"Next week."

"If you do love her... You'll take a chance."

And then the phone went dead.

Ichigo looked at the phone in complete and utter disbelief.

"Byakuya... Was that alright?"

The man nodded as he took his tea cup and sipped from it gracefully. He placed it back on the table without a sound at all. "Yes... It's just fine."

"I never knew you were a sadist."

"I am not... It's a small loophole and I'm curious about what he intends to do with the loophole we've found. Why I haven't thought of this sooner astounds me and why you've realized this before me astounds me more."

"Hey... That was just an outright insult." Isshin whined.

"It is merely the truth Isshin."

"Remind me, why are we choosing to do this method...?"

Byakuya looked at him as though he were the biggest idiot on earth. It was the kind of stare Rukia would give Ichigo if Ichigo was being an idiot. "If I used my power and influence for a third time then we Kuchikis would be looked down upon and it is most likely that there would me a coup in the family resulting in me being overthrown."

"Right..."

"This method keeps me in power and it lets me keep Rukia. A new head would disown her immediately. Then there's that loophole you've found. It's success rate is quite high but it can be exceedingly low depending on your son."

Isshin shrugged as he leaned against a wall. "I guess you're right... What's that Shiba kid up to now...?"

"He's doing exactly as he's been told. He loves my sister more than anything so he'll do anything to see her smile." Byakuya stated with closed eyes.

"I feel bad for him..."

"Then you should know how it leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. He knows he's only a role in this story."

"I haven't seen my son be that in love since Senna... No, this might be more than her."

"I haven't seen Rukia smile like that before..." Byakuya added with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Isshin grinned. "Aww... Does Ichigo and Rukia warm your heart?"

Isshin received the scariest Kuchiki glare ever. Imagine Rukia's 100% glare and intensify that a hundredfold. It was enough to either freeze you to death or melt you till' your puddle evaporated.

"That is none of your concern. That aside, our original plan is to ensure that we have no objections though getting our point across is no doubt a gamble."

Isshin laughed through his nose.

Next week...

Does the black sun have enough courage to run and chase after the white moon...?

Ichigo looked at his calendar and sighed. His hand quivered as he tore of the paper from the wall. Why keep track of time anyway? After seconds of contemplating, he smoothened out the paper and looked at it. Today was the day his father mentioned. Was it even true? If it was, Rukia was the one who broke it off anyway. Why would she take him back?

Moping around like some depressed puppy all week wasn't exactly healthy at all.

Rukia wouldn't even be willing to take him back seeing as though she was the one who broke it off herself. Ichigo just walked towards the couch and stayed on the couch for a little while longer. His phone rang and he picked it up absentmindedly.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo!"

"Oh Tatsuki... What's up?"

"What's up? What's up! Is that all you can say! I know where Rukia's going and you can run after her...! Why aren't you running! Get up you lazy ass and chase her!" she yelled through the phone.

"Look. She was the one who broke it off, I'm in the middle of recovering from a break up." he replied.

He heard nothing until a few more seconds later. "She... Rukia still loves you. It took me a while to drag it out of her and even if she didn't say it directly, she's still in love with you. She completely regrets what she did but I still don't know why she did it... Look, you can still change her mind Ichigo. She's conflicted and confused, you can help her!"

Ichigo didn't reply.

"She's even been crying over you! That's what Renji told me!"

Cry? Rukia...? Rukia would never cry like that.

It wasn't true.

Yet how come it felt like the truth?

"Look... I'm not interested." he said weakly.

"Not interested...? How can you say that! You love her don't you and she needs you right now! I don't understand, are you that scared of rejection Ichigo!"

Ichigo's eyes shot open and he gritted his teeth. "I'm not!" he retorted angrily.

"This is your first break up. I can understand why you're scared to get her back... But she loves you Ichigo! Christ, she loves you too much. In those two months, I've never seen her that happy... Not even when she was dating Grimmjow back in college."

"I... I'm not scared of rejection! I just know that... I can't-"

"Ichigo! You're putting words in her mouth... If Rukia was here she'd be calling you an idiot right now. Stop assuming! You're underestimating her! W-wait! R-Renji what are you doing!"

Then after a small crashing sound through the phone, the caller changed. "Ichigo... I'm her best friend. Take this from me, what you're doing right now is an insult to Rukia. Stop putting words in her mouth, she would never do that to you without a reason. You know she still loves you, you're just making it so that you won't get hurt again. You know the pain, I know it too. It's excruciating but it's supposed to make you stronger."

"Renji..."

"Knock some sense into her head. She doesn't know what to do right now."

Ichigo gripped the phone before closing his eyes. He pictured her smile and remembered how working so hard just for that one smile was worth it. He swallowed thickly.

"Stall her Renji."

Renji was grinning from the other end. "You got it."

Ichigo grabbed his coat and wore it on his way out and grabbing his wallet. He slipped the item along with his keys and stormed out of his own apartment. He ran down the hall and frantically pressed the elevator button. Going down the stairs would be suicide. It finally came up, he ignored his fellow elevator-mates and quickly pressed the ground floor button. He could feel their gazes on him but he ignored them.

His floor came and he ran out of the elevator and into the lobby. He stormed past the doorman and went out on the busy street. He already had his destination set in his mind. He had to go to the metro. He needed to get there before Rukia did. The funeral was out of town and she needed to ride the metro and change lines, ride another train to another place.

He ran as fast as his feet would take him. It would take him ten minutes to get to the station if he ran and he knew very well that Rukia walked. Though if Renji succeeded, she would still be on her way to the station. He nearly bumped into some elderly woman and if he stayed to apologize then he wouldn't be able catch up to Rukia.

He ran through a red light and nearly crashes into dozens of people. He was losing his breath but he had to keep running. This was Rukia we're talking about. She was worth his career. She was worth everything in his life combined.

She was just Rukia Kuchiki.

The one woman who was worth fighting for.

What possessed him this past week to mope around like some depressed idiot. Why was he so convinced that she wouldn't take him back to the point that he began putting words in her mouth. He didn't understand why he didn't run after her that day. He was going to drag her back whether she wanted him to or not. His heart leapt at the thought of merely being able to see her again.

He made a final sprint before the station entered his line of sight. He forced himself to move into the station. He ignored everyone who knew very well who he was and took out his wallet and pressed it against a scanner on the turnstile. He thanked god briefly for letting him make the good decision of getting that card for the metro five years ago. He ran towards the train she was most likely to take.

At first he saw nothing. He waited and waited and no one came. No beautiful midgets in the premises whatsoever. He kept looking as he watched the train. Finally, once the doors shot open, she was on the other side of the station platform.

Rukia Kuchiki was as breathtakingly beautiful as always. Her hair was still the nice ebony he loved running his hands through. Her skin was still that gorgeous milky white where he would plant kisses all over. Those eyes, those lovely enchanting amethyst eyes that never cease to capture his mind, body and soul. He didn't care if she was around five feet tall, that height was perfect on her. He could see her slender fingers in that all black get-up as well as he strong white thighs. Her clothes accentuated her lovely curves and there was nothing short of perfect when it came to Rukia.

She was smiling yes but if you knew her, you'd know it wasn't genuine.

Ichigo took a few steps forward before he started running towards the train. He was almost smiling before he completely stopped in his tracks. His outstretched hand suddenly felt limply to his side and his hope was all crushed. There was that pain again. His legs froze like before and his heart convulsed so badly. Why? Why was he there?

Kaien was there in a black suit, escorting Rukia. She was smiling at him. That's why she was smiling, she was smiling at someone and that someone was Kaien Shiba. Did he beat Ichigo to it? Was Kaien planning this?

Ichigo just stood there looking like he had witnessed someone die.

Ichigo couldn't move. He felt weak again. He thought he was past this already. Renji wasn't able to stall Rukia? No, perhaps he wasn't able to stall Kaien. Why? Why? Why? Fuck... Why? That man is always getting in the way...

Ichigo gritted his teeth and allowed his head to droop down. For the first time in seventeen years, he allowed a tear to roll down his cheek. He didn't cry for Senna because he knew she didn't like having him cry. This was Rukia... He couldn't not cry.

Rukia turned her head to the side and saw familiar orange hair. Her heart stopped and she suddenly felt like jumping of the train and going to him. His head was dropped down as if he was crying. She took one step forward before stoping and taking the step back. She pressed a hand against her already aching chest and leaned against Kaien.

"Ichigo..." she whispered softly.

She wanted him to kiss her senseless. Tell her that everything would be okay, that they would be able to have their happy ending. She wanted him to defy all the rules for her sake like in those movies he had starred in.

"It's not too late Rukia."

Rukia looked up and met aqua blue eyes. She couldn't muster a smile anymore. "Kaien... I can't..."

"You can..."

"But-"

He sighed. "Nothing is your fault."

Just as Rukia was about to give in to her own selfish desires, the door closed and any other plan she may have devised on the spot was now null and void. She couldn't leave now. This train wouldn't stop until the next like interchange and by then, some of her relatives would be there and they wouldn't approve of her running off. She didn't want to give them anymore reasons to disown her.

It was too late to call in sick and to go back to Ichigo.

Kaien was silent as he watched Rukia stare at the window. He hugged her from behind to try and comfort her already wounded heart but it did no good. She didn't love Kaien anymore. What hurt more was that she loved Ichigo more than she loved him. Kaien understood her fears.

She loved Ichigo too much. She couldn't bear to stop loving him, it would mean he wasn't that important to her to begin with. She didn't want to move on from him. She wanted to keep loving him. Rukia didn't want Ichigo to be just another ex like Kaien and Grimmjow had been.

Kaien closed his eyes. He felt the same way. He just couldn't move on from Rukia. He still loved her dearly. He disliked being another ex. What made Ichigo so different to Rukia? Perhaps it was because they trusted each other as if they had known each other since before they were born. Ichigo knew what to do when it came to Rukia and everything he did for her came naturally to him. He never closed his heart, he didn't hide anything from Rukia and although they did bicker a lot, that was how they showed their affection.

He could tell that in the one week they were apart, she had missed him badly.

Kaien couldn't do anything for Rukia now.

To begin with. Their relationship wasn't as strong. Rukia was still young then when it came to love. Kaien was just two years older. It was basically puppy love and Rukia then had thought that there was no one other than Kaien which was probably why she accepted his proposal.

Ichigo and Rukia's love was different. They had so much trust in each other. They knew each other like they knew the back of their hand. They didn't need to speak to understand what was wrong. Rukia even cried when he proposed and Rukia disliked crying. Ichigo helped her to recover and she did the same for him. This was beyond puppy love. It was something much more deeper than that.

Kaien wanted to laugh at himself. He was just too jealous of their relationship. He needed to stick to the plan though.

Eventually, Rukia stopped staring out the window and she found herself a seat along with Kaien. He noticed that her eyes were a bit red and that meant she had been crying.

She loved Ichigo too much it hurt.

AN: Hey guys... Did I make you a tad but hopefully in this chapter... I probably crushed it didn't I? Ah well! Another chapter from yours truly and despite the sadness I hoped you liked it which I highly doubt, this is seriously sad. Happier times will come but every story has a down to it.

To those who seriously thought I didn't have a plan then I'm sorry for making you worry because I do have plan.

It's just not convincing when I do this: I have a plan...? Lol, just a little joke, ignore me.

So once again, Comments and Suggestions but most especially Constructive Criticisms is very welcome. In other words, Please continue to Review because Reviews are such rewards to authors and it gives me plenty of motivation to keep going.

A general reply to you Reviewers:

I'm sorry if you cried or if I broke you heart but it had to be done. Rukia wanted to allow herself a last bit of selfishness by being his fiancé for even a few more hours. She knew she would hurt him but I'm sure we all understand what it means to be selfish. We're fighting the Kuchikis here, she's conflicted and she doesn't know what to do because for the first time, they were goung to tear Ichigo and Ruki apart and there was no Third party. With Grimmjow, he just happened to be in a suckish situation thanks to his ex who was bitter towards Rukia and that gave the Kuchikis plenty of reasons to split em up. Kaien on the other hand barely passed and Ichigo has done absolutely nothing wrong and he's still gonna be torn away from her anyway. Rukia can't see a solution especially with all that stress piling up. Ichigo has only been really in love once before Rukia and that was Senna but she passed away so this is his first real honest to goodness break up. It's his first time experiencing such pain and naturally, once you've been burned, you don't want to get burned again. He's being a wimp because he's afraid of the pain because this is way different from physical pain. Wounds may heal but wounds of the heart however, time will not be enough to heal it.

Anyhoo~

AkaBaka-chan signing off!