Woohoo another update! Okay, this chapter was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE. I considered splitting it up into two different chapters but I just couldn't stop writing so I figured I'd combine them, which means it's definitely one of my longest chapters so far. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope you guys are too! Let the drama ensue!

A ringing sound snapped Rukia out of the late-afternoon daze she was in. As the office started to wind down toward the end of the day, things got slower and slower until Rukia was sitting at her desk playing solitaire and counting down the minutes until she could go home.

Rukia lazily reached for her desk phone and noticed that the call was from her boss. She hoped that maybe she would be given an assignment or task that would keep her busy until five.

"Yes, Mr. Ukitake?" she answered.

"Rukia, I have to go pretty soon because I have a dinner party I have to attend and I need to run some errands before. Do you mind calling my tailor and asking if he has my suit ready for me real quick?" Mr. Ukitake said from the other line.

"Of course, sir. Which suit exactly do you want?"

"The one for the company gala. My tailor said it should be ready by now."

Of course. I completely forgot about that dumb gala.

"Right. I'll call him right away for you, sir."

"Thank you, Ms. Kuchiki," Ukitake said before Rukia heard the dial tone. She set down the phone and inwardly groaned when she remembered that Kurosaki was making her go to that thing. It was scheduled for the next Saturday so she had over a week to figure out what she was going to wear. When Byakuya's company was still up and running, she had had plenty of elegant gowns for events such as these. Her brother would always make her go to them so that he could introduce her to his business partners and friends. "It's never too early to build a good network, Rukia." Her brother had always been focused on preparing her for the position she would've inevitably taken at his company. For now, it was all a lost cause. Hopefully going to this particular gala would help change that.

Still, she didn't have a dress to wear. Or jewelry. Or anything that would be acceptable for a gala that only the richest of the rich would attend. She could find something relatively cheap that looked nice enough, but she would still be breaking the bank. Her budget at the moment was fairly limited.

She called and arranged everything with her boss's tailor and then began surfing the web looking for anything that was both dirt cheap and wasn't a complete train wreck. Unfortunately, she wasn't coming up with much of anything.

"Dress shopping?" a voice spoke from very close behind her. She swiveled around in her chair and came face to face with a familiar orange-haired prick.

"Jesus, Kurosaki, you have got to stop sneaking up on me!" she exclaimed, not feeling the need to address him properly as there was hardly anyone in the office by this point in the day. She could've left long ago when Ukitake did, but she had lost track of time online shopping.

"Sorry," he told her rather unapologetically with an annoying smirk. "So, what's the dress shopping for?" he asked.

"Well, apparently I'm being forced to go to this fancy gala of yours and I don't think it would be appropriate to show up in a pencil skirt and a blazer."

"Probably not. You could wear that sexy little number you wore on our date," Ichigo suggested with a grin.

Rukia rolled her eyes at him. Though there was no one that she could see on their floor, it was still inappropriate for him to mention stuff like that while they were at the office. Though, now that she thought about it, they were trying to make it obvious to Aizen that they knew each other outside of work.

"That's a party dress. I need a gown."

"And you don't have one?"

"I'm dirt poor, Kurosaki, why would I own a ball gown?"

"I don't know. Maybe you kept one from your rich heiress days?"

"I sold all of my stuff like that. I didn't think I would be attending any more galas," Rukia told him, rather annoyed that he wouldn't have already known that.

"Well, in that case," Kurosaki said nonchalantly as he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a wallet. He opened it and pulled out a sleek, black credit card. Rukia eyed it, hoping he wasn't planning on doing what she thought he was going to do.

But, to Rukia's chagrin, he placed the card on her desk and slid it over to her. She merely eyed the black card on her desk and then gave Ichigo a pointed glare. "No," was all she said.

"Oh, come on. You need a dress, and I have millions of dollars. I fail to see the problem."

"I'm not accepting your charity. I can figure out something on my own."

"Rukia, you do realize that this isn't just any gala. This is the Kurosaki Corporations annual gala. This event is huge, believe it or not. Some of the richest people in Tokyo will be there and you want to show up in a dress that's under a hundred dollars?"

Rukia sheepishly looked back at her computer. "My budget is fifty dollars," she told him, thoroughly embarrassed and irritated that he was absolutely right.

"Rukia," Ichigo chastised.

She hated accepting his money so blatanly like this, but he was right. She had no other choice. She had to go to this thing and she absolutely could not show up in a fifty dollar gown. She wasn't even sure there was such a thing as a fifty dollar gown. She sighed and begrudgingly picked up the credit card not even wanting to think how much she could buy with this little piece of plastic.

"What's my budget?" she asked in an irritated tone.

He smiled at her, glad that she finally agreed to something he said. "No budget. Though I will have to set a minimum."

"A minimum?" Rukia asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I don't want you being stingy with this, Rukia. This is a fancy gala and you need to buy a fancy dress. Fancy dresses aren't cheap. So I'll have to set a minimum amount you have to spend. Or, you know what, I'll do this," he said as a thought occurred to him and he reached across Rukia to grab a notepad and a pen. He wrote the name to a store on the pad and handed it to her. "Go to this place and buy whatever you want. All of their dresses are nice and the staff are all really helpful."

"And how would you know that?" Rukia asked skeptically as she looked at the name of the store on the piece of paper.

"I went there with my sisters when they were picking out prom dresses. They have tons of stuff there and the staff will help you find anything you're looking for."

"And I can get whatever I want?" Rukia asked.

"Whatever you want," he affirmed.

Rukia turned the card over and around with her fingers, contemplating his offer. She hated the thought of accepting something as expensive as a designer gown from him, but he was the one making her go to this event. And it wasn't like he couldn't afford it. He could afford to buy her a whole wardrobe of designer gowns. And, she knew that if she said the word, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Fine, I'll do it," she agreed.

He smiled. "Good. And tell Orihime she can get a dress as well."

"Orihime?"

"Yeah, she's going as Uryuu's date."

"How could you not tell me that you were going to the gala with Ishida?" Rukia asked her roommate, shocked that she wouldn't tell her something like this. She knew that they had been texting back and forth and that he had taken her out to dinner the week before, but she had no idea she was Uryuu's date to the gala. It ticked her off that Kurosaki had heard about it before she did.

"You have a millionaire's credit card," Orihime said in absolute awe as stared at the black card Kurosaki had given Rukia, completely ignoring her roommate's questions.

"Orihime, would you please listen to what I'm saying. This is a big deal and you didn't tell me about it."

"We get to buy gorgeous and ridiculously expensive designer dresses," Orihime said, still completely ignoring Rukia.

"Orihime!" Rukia exclaimed in exasperation. She was starting to get really fed up with her roommate. Then again, it was probably her fault for telling Orihime about the dress thing before asking her about the Ishida thing.

"Oh, come on, Rukia. It's not that big of a deal. We've been talking a lot lately. He needed a date. He asked me. Simple as that," Orihime finally said before she turned back to admiring the credit card.

"Simple as that? Orihime, you haven't told me anything about this little fling you have going with Ishida. I work with him, in more ways than one, and I'm your freaking roommate. Why haven't I known about this?"

"Well, I thought you would be mad."

"Mad? Why on earth would I be mad?"

"Well, I just figured because of all the stuff going on between you and Ichigo and Uryuu's association with him, that you wouldn't be happy for me."

"Orihime, I will always be happy for you. I am happy for you. This is a great thing. Ishida is a good guy."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do. Look, this thing with Kurosaki should never make you think that you can't go and be happy. I think this is great. I just wish you would've told me that it was getting more serious."

"You're right. I'm sorry, Rukia," Orihime said apologetically as she reached out to hug her roommate, who gladly returned the sentiment.

"It's okay."

"So, can we talk about the fact that Ichigo gave you one of his credit cards to go out and buy us both really expensive dresses?" Orihime asked excitedly as she held up the card in question.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I'm not happy about it. I hate that he's going to be spending so much money on us, but we have no other choice."

"I really don't see what's so bad about having a millionaire who wants to shower you with gifts."

"Because Kuchiki's don't accept charity!" Rukia told her roommate proudly.

Orihime rolled her eyes at that. "Rukia, you need to let go of your stubborn pride and just accept what Ichigo is willing to give you. It's not like a couple of designer dresses is going to put much of a dent in his bank account."

"I know. I just don't like giving him that kind of power."

"Power? Oh please. Rukia, he is not trying to exert his dominance over you by offering to pay for things like this. He just wants to give you everything he thinks you deserve."

Rukia looked at her roommate and contemplated her words. It was a nice sentiment, sure, but she didn't know if that was what Kurosaki's true intentions were. Either way, accepting gifts of that magnitude still made her uncomfortable, but she was stuck doing it whether she liked it or not.

That Saturday, Orihime could hardly contain her excitement as they made their way to the expensive dress store in the ritzy part of town. Rukia's roommate couldn't stop talking about how exciting it was to get to buy something like this. Unlike Rukia, Orihime had never experienced wealth like this. Rukia had worn plenty of designer gowns in her lifetime, but her friend hadn't even come close. Rukia had decided that she could at least be happy that Ichigo was giving the opportunity to Orihime as well and enjoy it with her.

They walked into the shop that Ichigo had told her about and were immediately overwhelmed with the dresses on display. Everything was shiny and clean and looked to be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It had been awhile since Rukia had been able to shop in a store like this one.

A saleswoman wearing a nice black dress walked up to the two girls. "Hi, how may I help you ladies?"

"Uh, we're here to buy dresses for a gala. Ichigo Kurosaki sent us your way," Rukia told her, figuring name dropping was the best way to make them seem not completely out of place. She knew a lot of the people working here started judging them the moment they walked in the door. They didn't look like they could afford anything in this store. Which, to be fair, was accurate.

"Oh, are you Rukia Kuchiki?" the saleswoman asked.

Rukia was taken aback that she knew her name. "Um, yes."

"Welcome, Ms. Kuchiki. Mr. Kurosaki told us that you would be coming. He and his younger sisters are wonderful customers of ours so we're happy to welcome any friends of his," the woman told the two girls.

"Great!" Orihime said happily as Rukia inwardly laughed at the idea of them being Kurosaki's friends.

"I'll go ahead and prepare two dressing rooms for you both while you browse our collection. If you can't find something that you would like, you can always let us know and we can take you to our stock collection in the back. I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Rukia said as the woman left. Orihime gave her roommate a girly squeal before she rushed to go look at the racks upon racks of gorgeous dresses.

They browsed for a few minutes before the saleswoman returned. "Your rooms are ready. I can help you find whatever you're looking for and then we can go try some stuff on." As the saleswoman was talking, another woman wearing a similar outfit approached the girls with a tray and two glasses.

"Champagne?" the woman offered the girls.

"Is it free?" Orihime asked. Rukia cringed at her question. As if it wasn't obvious enough they were both wildly misplaced.

The woman giggled and said, "Of course."

"Oh, wow! We'd love some," Orihime said excitedly as she grabbed one of the glasses from the tray and Rukia grabbed the other.

The woman with the champagne left and the other saleswoman led them through the racks, pointing out a few particular gowns and what designer made them. Rukia looked over at her roommate and almost laughed. Orihime looked to be in heaven as she took in every minute of their time in the store. She seemed to be taking her opportunity to experience wealth very well.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" the saleswoman exclaimed suddenly before she excused herself and went back behind the cash register. She pulled a flat, square velvet box from one of the drawers and walked back over to the girls.

"I'm so sorry I forgot to give this to you before we started, Ms. Kuchiki."

"What is it?" Rukia asked.

"It's from Mr. Kurosaki. He wanted me to tell you that you could get anything you wanted but that he had one small request."

"What's that?" Rukia asked with a menacing tone as she narrowed her eyes. Just what did that bastard have planned? And what was in the velvet box?

"It has to go with these," the saleswoman said before she opened the box and revealed its contents to the two girls, who's jaws both immediately dropped when they got a look at it.

"Oh my god," Orihime said in disbelief as she looked at the necklace and earrings perfectly displayed on a silk cushion inside the box.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rukia said, also quite shocked. "These are for me?" she asked.

"Yes," the saleswoman answered. "He wants you to wear them to the gala so we have to find a dress that goes with them."

"I-I think we…can manage t-that," Rukia struggled to get out as she continued to gape at the pieces of jewelry that were now hers.

The saleswoman smiled and said, "Yes, diamonds do go well with many things. It shouldn't be too hard. We'll keep these safe for now and then you can try them on once you start trying on dresses, okay?"

"Okay," Rukia managed to answer as the sight of the beautiful diamond necklace and earrings still had her absolutely floored. She had worn expensive pieces of jewelry before and even some diamond pieces, but never had she worn something quite like those.

The saleswoman closed the jewelry box and walked back to the safe they had been keeping them in. While she was gone, Orihime turned to her best friend and quietly squealed.

"Oh my god, Rukia! He gave you a diamond necklace and earrings! And not just any diamond necklace and earrings, he gave you the biggest, most beautiful diamonds I've ever seen! Oh this is too good to be true."

"This isn't good," Rukia said in response, as a feeling of queasiness began to creep up inside of her.

"What? Why isn't this good?"

"Because it's too much! I don't even want to think about how much those things cost. I just thought it was going to be the dress but now I have this jewelry I have to worry about."

"Rukia, what are you talking about?"

"I'm never going to be able to pay him back now," Rukia lamented.

"Pay him back? You were planning on paying him back for all of this?"

"Yes, eventually. I can't just let him buy me expensive things without paying him back."

"Ugh, I thought we went over this, Rukia. Ichigo doesn't want you to pay him back. He's giving you these things because he genuinely wants to make you happy. That's it. Just be happy and accept it! It's not that difficult," Orihime said.

Before Rukia could reply, the saleswoman came back. "Shall we continue?" she said.

Orihime looked back toward her roommate and raised her eyebrow as if it ask her if it was okay to go ahead and buy the dresses with Ichigo's money. Rukia sighed and silently relented. She would figure out what she was going to do about it later. Right now she had to worry about finding a dress.

"Cheers," Ichigo said as he clinked glasses with a business partner and flashed his signature smile. The Kurosaki Corporations Gala had finally come and the sweet talking was in full force as Ichigo greeted the guests who were in attendance. Technically, this was his party and he had to be the perfect host for all of them.

He spotted Ishida a few feet away and went up to talk with him.

"So, everything looks great so far," Ishida said, scanning the room with his usual calculating gaze.

"Yeah, it's quite the party. The planning committee did a fantastic job as always."

"That they did."

The two friends lapsed into silence as they sipped their champagne and watched as people milled about, occasionally saying a quick hello to those who passed by.

"Is everything set for our plan?" Ishida asked quietly, trying to be as discreet as possible.

"Everything's good," Ichigo affirmed just as quietly.

"Good."

"Uryuu! Ichigo!" a high-pitched voice called out to the pair. They both turned and watched as Orihime Inoue ran up to them. She was wearing a beautiful sparkly golden dress and her hair was curled and resting on her shoulders.

Ichigo looked over at his friend and smirked when he saw his expression.

"You look beautiful," Ishida said with a blush as Orihime ran up and gave him an enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself," she said with a sweet smile.

They looked as though they were beginning to slip into their own little world so Ichigo cleared his throat to make sure they remembered he was standing right there.

"Oh, Ichigo! Sorry about that, I almost forgot you were there. Oh! I wanted to tell you thank you for everything you've done for me and Rukia. The dress store was amazing and then that hairdresser and make up artist you told us about were amazing too. Oh and the limo was so great! Thank you for everything."

"Of course. It's my pleasure," Ichigo told her with a suave smile. That's when he noticed someone was missing.

"Uh, where exactly is Rukia?" he asked, dying to see what she looked like all dolled up. He had seen her when she had put a little bit more effort into her appearance before, but he knew this would be different. He had paid for both girls to go all out and he knew it would be worth it the moment he saw her.

"She forgot her purse in the car and had to go back to get it. She should be here pretty soon," Orihime said.

"Or right now," Uryuu pointed out as he motioned to the top of the entryway stairs that led into the grand ballroom where the woman in question had just arrived.

Ichigo's jaw automatically dropped when he saw her.

She looked absolutely divine.

She stood at the top of the stairs looking almost like a princess in a sinful, floor length black gown. The dress was a deep, velvet black and had a sweetheart neckline. It hugged every curve until the knees where it flared out. Rukia had her hair done up into a side swept style that complimented her face beautifully. The diamond earrings and necklace that Ichigo had asked her to wear completed the look.

Ichigo wanted nothing more in that moment than to take her to a lavish hotel room, rip the dress off of her, and make her scream until she was hoarse.

When her eyes finally spotted the trio standing to the side, Ichigo had to remind himself to calm down. He could fantasize all he wanted, but she was still closed off to him. And, as much as he wanted her, he knew that he had to be professional, especially considering how important the night was for all of them.

"My, my, Ms. Kuchiki. You look absolutely ravishing tonight," Ishida commented as she walked up to the three of them.

"Why thank you, Mr. Ishida," she said with a smile as she showed off her beautiful gown.

"Ishida's right. You look amazing," Ichigo said, his voice surprisingly more sweet than seductive as he gently grabbed her hand and placed a chaste kiss on it, while his eyes locked on hers. She watched him as he did this, never saying a word of protest or pushing him away. In fact, Ichigo could see that she had her own flares of desire in her eyes that he knew were in his. It looked as though she had come to play tonight and Ichigo was more than ready for the game.

Ironically enough, Ishida had to clear his throat to snap Ichigo and Rukia out of the little world they were retreating into. He seemed to snap Rukia right out of her daze, something Ichigo reminded himself to give Uryuu hell for later.

A waiter came by before anyone could speak and offered Rukia a glass of champagne. She gladly accepted and downed about half of it in one gulp. There would be a lot of alcohol consumed that night.

"This party looks amazing," Orihime commented, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah. It's always a great time at the Kurosaki Corp gala," Ichigo said with a touch of pride to which Rukia promptly scoffed at.

"So, I wonder how many of these old, rich guys walking around will recognize me," Rukia said as she looked around at all the guests.

"Good question. And I have to wonder what they would say when they saw you," Uryuu commented.

"Probably not good things. Not many people outside of Byakuya's company were very fond of either of us," she said as she took another sip of her champagne.

"Don't worry. They'll start kissing your ass again once you get it back," Ichigo reassured her.

Before she could give him a sarcastic retort, a gasp was heard from behind the group before a man exclaimed, "Rukia!"

They all turned around to see who it was. Rukia figured it was probably someone she used to know who had recognized her. She rolled her eyes and prepared herself for the inevitable conversation.

But when she turned around, her eyes widened and she let out a surprised gasp of her own. She had been expecting some old business associate or something, but she had definitely not been expecting him.

"Renji!"

Oh ho ho, things are definitely getting interesting, no? Oh my goodness I just love this chapter. I hope that's not a bad thing to say about your own writing but yeah I really love it. I hope you guys do to! Let know know what you thought :)