(Recap)

"Yeah well, things happened."

"But marry?" Thick, tan fingers combed through black tresses in an act of daze, "how did Rukia take all this?"

"Pretty well actually, she didn't try to kill me, so we're getting somewhere. Although, I thought she was going to stab me with the knife at some point… "

Shuuhei mentally shook his head in apprehension. It was official.

They were both crazy.

"Why the hell are you here?"

Opening the door to her office, Rukia honestly couldn't say that she was surprised that a familiar head of orange greeted her that morning. She closed her eyes and held her breath. Really, in the short years she's known the obnoxious man, she berated herself for not expecting it at the least. Rukia lifted her head to look back at Ichigo and felt the corner of her lips twitch; yes, she should've expected it, but it didn't stop her irritation from building up at the mere sight of his moping face. People were crazy if they thought she'd put up with his over-confident ass so early in the morning, "go back to your own room!"

"But Ruki-"

"Don't you 'Rukia' me," the dark-haired woman gruffly walked over to her desk to place her bag down and unbuttoned her blazer to hang on the hook –all while avoiding eye contact from the pools of amber that she knew were staring intensely at her back, "and how did you even get in here? I locked the door!"

"I got the maintenance guy to open it for me," Ichigo rested his chin on the white leather couch situated in the middle of the room. Rukia felt the urge to slap the small pout off from his lips. She swore to god he was mocking her; reveling in her irritation, "and I find it highly unnecessary for you to go and lock your room like this, we shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other."

With a small creak from the chair, Rukia sat down into its deep embrace and started to take out her paperwork. Staring at the ridiculous amount of dead trees in front of her, she found herself deeply contemplating what she should throw at this man, "I've been locking my room recently because it always seems to invite an unwanted guest."

Rukia lifted her head at the odd silence on his part and was welcomed with the full throttle of Kurosaki's pout – if it were possible, he'd have sparkles glistening next to those eyes of his. Feeling the corner of her lips twitch in apprehension, she subconsciously gripped her glossy, black pen a little tighter than necessary, "why are you staring at me like that…"

His lips were set in a lop-sided goofy grin that almost made her own mouth ache, 'too... wide,' he looked absolutely stupid with his stupid face and his stupid hair and stupid little smirk. But his eyes… his eyes were unnerving her. They were too intense, too fixated. Rukia gave a silent curse under her breath when she realized that she was actually staring into his eyes with no shame.

Amethyst scanned across lines of writing, taking careful note of the edits and red arrows made around the margins of the paper. Whatever game he was playing, she didn't want to be a part of it. But as much as she tried to immerse herself into the work, a head of bright orange hovered at the corner of her eyes. The room was nearly all white, of course he just had to be bloody obvious, "don't you have to other places to grace your presence with, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo stretched out his long arms without moving from his position, simply leaning back into the couch and stare at the textureless ceiling – which, he mentally noted, was spotlessly white, along with the rest of her room. It reminded him of snow, "well you've always enjoyed my company during the evenings-"

Rukia scoffed before she could stop herself. She hoped to God that he wasn't stupid enough to say that to her and mean it, "- so I was just curious as to how you started off your mornings, since it seems to be harder to catch you then."

"Well, Kurosaki-san," for some reason, the young woman always felt like a grumpy librarian whenever she had to deal with Ichigo's antics. Always telling him to be quiet, to talk sensibly, to direct his job – hell she may as well been his mother, "I hope at the very least, that you have useful things to discuss if you're going out of your way to pester me in the mornings as well."

Rukia slightly frowned when her words came out a little snappier than usual. As much as he acted like an idiot, he was still her boss and superior – constantly butting heads with him and challenging his position of power would've been considered business suicide, she knew this, but found herself doing it ever damn day. She was just glad that he tended to take her abuses like a punching bag; for now, he didn't look like he'd fire her anytime soon.

"Do you happen to remember a Hinamori Momo, by any chance?"

If it were the name of any other woman, Rukia would've wondered why he was asking her, but it wasn't; Rukia immediately pursed her lips at the thought of the girl, "of course I do. Months of drafting right down the drain and into rival company hands."

Though the case was dropped before it could even get to the judging panel, it caused a great void in the company's profit that required all hands on the next project to make up for the loss. In her honest opinion, counter-suing Suigetsu Corp. could've pretty much shut down the entire company during it's weakened state; however, Rukia secretly wondered why their boss, who would've been the perfect definition of insanity, didn't take up the mantle to fight for the profit loss and defamation of character.

She finally placed her papers down after she acknowledged that she wasn't going to get any work done with him around, "you got sued as well, to what I remember – for sexual harassment?-" Rukia mentally snorted at the irony but had to admit to herself that the man never went too far had it been obvious that his advances were genuinely unwanted – it just so happened that a large number of women actually loved the attention, "- it was mighty suspicious too, how Suigetsu Corp. had a sudden influx in profit after she quit our company and dropped the case against you."

Rukia glanced over to the man still invading her precious couch space, secretly hoping that he'd get his ass off of it some time soon, "one of these days, Kurosaki-san, you're going to bite off more than you chew."

It was then when a small, mischievous smirk stretched across his handsome features, the one that was nearly, almost always, followed by some sort of trouble – or an increase of shifts on her part. Work itself wasn't what she was complaining about, it just drove Rukia crazy how he found ways to accompany her during her late hour shifts – it was a wonder how the man got his job done with all the tomfoolery he got up to, "but that's what makes it all the more entertaining, don't you think?"

Trust the man who had orange hair to live life on the crazy side of the scale, "you're thinking about fighting it out with Aizen, aren't you?"

Ichigo tilted his head towards her direction with an expression Rukia couldn't quite put a finger on, "how did you know?"

So, he still qualified for the definition of insanity after all. Cupping her face in her hands, Rukia all but gave a sigh, "Kurosaki-san, I know -" 'you… but I shouldn't…' Rukia gingerly bit down on her tongue to stop herself from finishing that sentence - she didn't know Kurosaki Ichigo, what the hell was she about to say? Everything she 'knew' about him may as well been all a lie, Rukia personally believed that no human could ever be so… so fake, "- your patterns of stupidity, it becomes predictable after a while."

Ichigo secretly grinned at the barely noticeable hitch in her flow of words, "So, what do you think my course of action should be?"

Amethysts snapped in his direction and flared irritably, "I don't know why you're asking for my opinion, Kurosaki-san. You're going to do whatever the hell you want either way."

"Well," there was a small sincere smile that stretched across his lips. His eyes were no longer on her and instead, looked out the window, "I'm just asking for your advice, Rukia-san."

There was a quirk of an eyebrow and a long, empty stare from Rukia. Hearing him say her name with an honorific was alien to her, "you have advisors for that, Kurosaki-san."

"A little bird told me that you used to work as a consultant back in your previous company," the head of orange turned back to face the woman behind the desk, ever-so-slightly narrowing his eyes at her sudden tense posture, "most importantly, I value your opinion."

Rukia pursed her glossed lips and felt her hear beat faster at the mention of her previous workplace. If anything, she would've loved it if her past disposition never saw the light of day again. She stared back into those amber pools before sighing and dropping her gaze, "you make things work."

With a soft thud, the glossy black pen was dropped onto the desk and her hand found a path through her raven tresses. Rukia glanced sideways at the window with a faraway look in her eyes, "as crazy as it sounds, even to myself, you're good at what you do. Under all that… imbecility, you're a calculative individual who tries to stand several steps ahead of competition."

There was a brief pause before Rukia furrowed her brows, "your methods of getting there is also sometimes questionable as to whether or not it goes by the statute – with the number of times you've managed to get away, it leads me to wonder how high your connections go up the social ladder. Your actions are rash and sometimes crazy. I can't even recall the number of times I thought to myself, 'he won't be able to make this'. But somehow – like some kind of save-the-day super hero- you make things click into place at the end of the day."

Amethysts turned to look back at her boss, who still maintained his focus on her, "I don't believe in something like luck, Kurosaki-san, but meeting you and seeing you in action really does waver my opinion on that from time to time. Coupled with your drive - your ambition - it makes you a frightening individual."

Ichigo quirked his brow at the in-depth evaluation he had just heard. It surprised him to think that she had so closely analyzed him all this time while keeping him at such a distance – it felt as if he found himself in a cautious waltz, where both individuals were picking apart at each other's character whilst dancing under the pretense of rhythmic strides – never letting each other come too close, but, close enough to greatly decipher the other. It intrigued and excited him at the same time, "so you think I'll be lucky this time round?"

Rukia frowned warily, Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to be a man who had a knack for pushing his boundaries, "Lady Luck is a fickle thing, Kurosaki-san. You're not going to have her favors forever."

He cracked a mischievous smile, "and if I'm willing to risk it?"

Ichigo was half expecting her to scold him on his idiocy – but was slightly surprised when all she did was stare. Rukia simply rested her chin in her hand, "I don't know… but I can't tell you to do anything – you're Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo silently wondered if Rukia realized that she was actually giving him a soft smile. She would probably skin him alive if he pointed it out, "and the Kurosaki Ichigo I know does what ever the hell he wants and comes out of it alive."

There was a short laugh, "I'm glad you think so highly of me."

At his light-hearted reply, Rukia pulled her lips into a scowl without even noticing that she was smiling, "that's the complete opposite of what I - "

A small, but not discreet enough, creak alerted the two bickering colleagues of a new presence in the room, "am… I interrupting something…"

Raven pivoted her head towards the source of the voice. Rukia mentally gave a sigh of relief at her friend, she almost felt claustrophobic being the only one with Ichigo in her office, "it's alright Rangiku, we were just discussing work."

Rangiku eyed her friend wearily who, in turn, was stiffly focusing her gaze on the strawberry blonde. She turned her attention towards her boss to see his line of vision still on Rukia, "uhm… I can come back lat-"

"That," Rukia narrowed her eyes at Rangiku, quirking her eyebrows and twitching her lips so that she would get the drift – ixnay on the elp-hay, "won't be necessary, Kurosaki-san was about to leave anyways."

Ichigo glanced at Rangiku and greeted her with a smile, "it's alright Matsumoto-san, I have a stack of paperwork to do back at my room," he slowly got up from his seat and tucked his black blazer in his arm, "I'll be taking my leave."

Tensely waiting for the man to walk out of the office, Rangiku silently squealed as the door closed with a click and skipped over to her seated friend, dumping her bag and overcoat carelessly on the seat he was in only a few seconds ago, "Oh my god, oh my god. Oh. My. God. What was all that about!?"

Groaning under her breath, Rukia opened her mouth to reply before her friend slapped her on the arm. Soothing the targeted limb, Rukia looked up at her friend as if she had grown another head – it didn't necessary hurt, but she just hit her for Christ's sake! "Wha-what was that for!"

Rangiku smacked her pink lips in disapproval, her eyes staring down at Rukia's own with fire blazing in them. As a friend of many years, she could already see Rukia's reply flowing from her eyes, "don't tell me it was nothing, Rukia, cause I saw something."

Rukia sputtered in disbelief, rubbing her arm slowly, "you didn't even let me speak."

"It was what you were going to say," the curvaceous woman crossed her arms over her ample bosom – almost like a mother scolding her child.

Rukia felt something gravely wrong with this imagery, "but you didn't even let me speak!"

"As if you were going to say anything different," Rangiku plopped herself in Rukia's couch and started to silently interrogate her with her eyes, "spill everything, or so help me god, I will go and put articles up on the front bulletin."

Mouth closed into a firm line and a scowl was set on Rukia's face, "you wouldn't dare."

Smoky blue eyes narrowed and held a gleam of confidence. Rangiku gave no reply and only proceeded to send her more questioning stares. One that almost egged her on, 'just try me, Kia-chan' – thus, Rukia sighed in defeat, mentally berating herself for giving into her friend's antics all the time and satisfying her unquenchable curiosity, "he just came to discuss Hinamori."

"Hinamori Momo?" Strawberry blonde piped up in question.

"He's planning to take Suigetsu head on," Rukia scrunched up her nose at the sudden spectacle of her friend choking and spitting her coffee out back into her cup. Amusingly, she saw the familiar face that anybody of sane mind tended to wear every time they heard one of Ichigo's outlandish plans, "head on? The Suigetsu corp.? Is… he insane?! I thought the case got trashed..."

"Well," picking up her black pen, Rukia resumed her work, "he is Kurosaki Ichigo. Man won't go down without a fight."

Rangiku quietly groaned into her hands. She believed the boss to be a highly capable individual who was also painfully handsome. Heck, she would've been crazy if she didn't! As much as Rangiku idolized her superior, every time he went out to do something crazy, it always meant a higher stack of paperwork. The regular load was already bad as it was! "For goodness' sake, Rukia, knock some sense into your man."

Rukia accidently slammed her hand against the desk a little louder than first intended, "not my man."

"Right," a perfectly manicured hand waved warily as if dismissing her rebuttal, "of course not."

Just as she was about to verbally torture her friend, a knock on the door diverted her attention. Rukia sent Rangiku one final glare saying, 'we're not finished here,' before looking towards the door, "yes, come in."

Shuuhei walked into the room with a familiar blue folder in his hands. Rukia got up from her seat to greet him, "good morning, Hisagi-san."

Casually scratching his nape, Shuuhei flashed a smile to the two ladies in the room, "no need for such formalities, Rukia-san." He walked over to her desk and placed down the folder while quietly declining Rangiku's offer for morning coffee.

Rukia gingerly pinched the bridge of her nose, "there just seems to be a great lack in formality around the building these days," she opened the folder in front of her and skimmed through the introductive paragraph written on the front page, "maybe you could teach your boss a few manners."

The tattooed man gave a small scoff, "that man wouldn't be able to pick up on anything even if there was a 'for dummies' guide written for him."

This earned a small giggle from Rukia who looked up at Shuuhei, "must be exhausting, working under that brute."

Shuuhei sent an almost sympathetic look at Rukia's direction, "actually, I think you're suffering the most out of all of us."

The small smile that had stretched across Rukia's face twitched at the corner of her lips. Somehow, she wasn't surprised at the fact that he knew about all this horseplay, "I don't know what you're talking about, Hisagi-san." Rukia almost spat out his name with venom, all while trying to stop her lips from twitching. Shuuhei felt a dark aura rolling off from the seated woman. It amazed him how such a small body could deal so much damage and cause so much fear.

"O-of course not."

The poor thing was in denial. Shuuhei bit the inside of his cheek at this. Ichigo was going to have a field day trying to convince her for her hand and from the looks of it, she wasn't going to give it to him anytime soon… or without a fight. He just prayed that their combined insanity didn't escalate on a grand scale.

As much as Rukia was going to deny it – which he knew she would, quite fiercely in fact – Shuuhei couldn't help but see a definite string of lunacy that ran through both their webs. Both were hardheaded with short fuses and an even shorter tolerance for meritless goals. Excelling in their own fields, there were too many times where either of the individuals walked into the room like they were some holy entity. Competing with them as a rival company worker would've been too much of a strenuous profession for him – Ichigo's level of impulsivity and Rukia's following not too short after – would've been too much of a mental strain on any realistic individual.

Shuuhei noticed that Rukia was back to concentrating on the task in front of her, a pen twirling indolently between her slender fingers. Noticing the comfortable silence that had settled in the office, he felt as if it was the calm before the storm.

The next few weeks was going to be a nightmare.

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To be continued…

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M.