GUESS WHO'S BACK (BACK AGAIN) (GEISHAAA'S BACK) (TELL A FRIEND)

Ahem. Okay, just like 'Mind of an Ice Prince/Princess', this is another collaboration piece with LethanWolf but we've gone for a hitsumatsu pairing this time! I'm writing from Rangiku's POV and I really recommend you read both sides of each chapter to get the full story (every story has two sides, y'know?).

STRONG RAPE WARNING! There is past rape mentioned throughout this chapter and in future chapters and while I won't be super explicit, I don't want to upset anyone. Please don't read this if it will make you feel uncomfortable.

Enjoy!

….

Rangiku sat at her kitchen bench, laptop open and biting her nails – a disgusting habit she'd picked up as a preteen. It was something she did when she was nervous, like when she was twelve and her body had well and truly begun to develop which meant many old men used to stare at her and whistle as she walked by. They still did, of course, but at least she was mature enough to know how to handle it now.

She glanced around her messy shoebox apartment and sighed, biting more of her nail off and turning back to her computer. She tried not to think of why she had moved to this awful flat but it was constantly in the back of her mind, playing on repeat. In short, never date your boss. She had lost her once best friend and later boyfriend, her job, her fantastic salary (although it had never been as high as the men in her position) and as a result, she had to give up her beautiful apartment in the centre of Tokyo too. Gods, she had loved that place – warm, bright, with windows so large she felt like she could see the whole city. At night, the city lights were like millions of little stars – even in the middle of winter, she liked to sit on her balcony with a pot of hot tea or sometimes sake (okay, usually sake), and just… watch. She liked to take the whole world in.

That apartment was gone, though. She couldn't afford it now that she was unemployed, so she had moved to the edge of the city, in a rundown neighbourhood, in a rundown apartment block. She felt unsafe there at night, but a whole lot safer than she did at any place Gin could have found her. He'd never look for her here.

Gin.

Even his name scared her now. She hated it all – him, having to quit her job and move, but most importantly, she hated her fear. She hated being scared; it wasn't who she was.

Rangiku quickly shook it out of her mind. If she thought too much about it, she would probably cry and she was definitely not allowed to cry just moments before her big interview with her potential new boss, 'Hyorinmaru'. It was definitely a fake name, but the whole gaming industry knew that. Zeltrix's CEO was a mystery – the company had a number of PR representatives that faced the media but the head of company had never made an appearance. Even in the annual reports that she had read backwards and forwards several times in her career, no hints were given. He was only ever referred to as 'Mr Hyorinmaru', and for some reason, sometimes 'Captain Hyorinmaru'. Where Gin had always had a fully-fledged photo shoot with make-up and outfit changes for his annual report and website picture, the Zeltrix owner's picture was a merely hand-sketched dragon – usually a blue-green thing with red eyes, like the logo of the company. It had always made Rangiku smile though, even when she'd read the reports while being at Game Station – it just seemed to bring a bit of personality to the otherwise completely unknown man.

She smiled a little at the thought. Her smiles were few and far between these days but it made her feel better, even if only for a fleeting second. She really needed this job. Gin had spread the word around many of the other gaming companies to blacklist her in hopes she would come crawling back to him, desperate for a job and some form of wage. Zeltrix was her last chance – the one company Gin's words would never penetrate. It was his company's biggest rival after all.

She had gone through Isshin Shiba, her old neighbour when she still lived at home with her parents. They had kind of just lost contact over the years but she was so grateful he remembered her. She had babysat for him while she was in high school and university to make some extra money. His oldest child, Ichigo, was only a few years younger than her but was often out on school trips or at sleepovers so her job was to mainly look after the two younger girls. After they went to bed, she would study until Isshin came home. The man was high school teacher at the time and had been very impressed with her dedication to her studies.

Right on 4pm, her skype lit up with the incoming call. A blank picture told her more than she needed to know about her caller; Hyorinmaru – the man standing between her and last chance to get her career back on track.

She answered it, her 'hello' coming out more nervous than she would have liked.

She was greeted by a deep, smooth voice introducing himself as 'Mr Hyorinmaru' and asking for her name.

"Y-yes, Sir," damn her nervous stammer, "My name is Matsumoto, Rangiku Matsumoto."

She frowned – did she just introduce herself like James Bond?

"Alright, Matsumoto," Hyorinmaru continued, unfazed, "Why did you choose to work for us?"

His voice was so… well, for lack of a better term, sexy. It seemed intelligent, mature and experienced. Immediately a picture of an older gentlemen appeared in her mind. Tall, dark and handsome was the image, perhaps a bit of a silver fox. Maybe even like a George Clooney or an older Benedict Cumberbatch.

"Oh, well I have experience in this field," Rangiku stated quickly, "It's something I know that I'm good at and I enjoy. Did you… did you get my CV?"

She had been told by Isshin to email a copy to Ukitake who would pass it on to the boss. It wasn't her preferred method of applying for a job. She had charisma and good looks; any job was hers if she walked in to the office, fluttered her eyelashes and handed over a strawberry-scented CV (assuming no snake ex-boyfriends were black balling her). It was very daunting to be judged entirely from an electronic document stating her academic and career achievements and to be doing an interview over the phone. Her biggest weapons were out of ammunition and she was running straight into the line of fire.

Hyorinmaru gave a small hum of acknowledgement.

"Yes, I did," he murmured, sounding like he was glancing over it, "It's very impressive."

Rangiku sat up straighter on her stool, a moment of pride washing though her. It was impressive if she did say so herself, especially when people saw her in person. Everyone expected her to be a dumb blonde, skimping bikini wearing model but she wasn't. She was actually quite intelligent, completing a double master's degree in marketing and psychology at Tokyo University and developing some of the most successful marketing campaigns in the international gaming industry. She had spent more time in the office, wearing her glasses and a professional blazer than at the beach in a bikini.

"Why did you choose to leave Game Station?" Hyorinmaru continued with the interview, cutting straight to what Rangiku assumed was his biggest question.

"Oh," Rangiku hesitated – she'd been told to never bad mouth her old boss in an interview but she felt she needed to be honest in this situation, "I chose to leave because the CEO and I did not see eye to eye."

It was the most polite way she could have put it, to be honest, and much more polite than that bastard deserved, although she was sure some of her contempt slipped into her voice.

Hyorinmaru didn't push, moving on and asking about her day to day roles. Rangiku picked herself back up, excitedly explaining her duties at her old position. She really had loved her job. They say you never work a day in your life if you love your job and she certainly agreed. She loved putting together marketing campaigns, they honestly felt like her babies at times – she created them, raised them and sent them off into the real world. Rangiku lived for marketing – there was so much psychology behind it which she found entirely fascinating. She loved having the power to influence entire groups of people to buy her product with just a colour or one well-placed word.

"Oh believe me," the man chuckled at her story of a highly successful campaign of hers – a sound that made Rangiku smile once again, "I know all about those sales. That was a bad winter for us."

Ah, shit.

"Sorry," Rangiku apologised quickly, kicking herself. Hyorinmaru probably didn't want to hear about all the times her marketing campaigns had trumped his.

In her defence, Zeltrix's marketing had always been far behind, it was no wonder they were hiring.

"Don't be, it was impressive," Hyorinmaru's deep voice rumbled, "Forgive me for asking but it is my job…"

Rangiku kept her sigh silent and closed her eyes, knowing where this was going.

"What exactly did you not see eye to eye with Gin about?"

Rangiku flinched, the memory flashing through her. Gin's hand was on her thigh, slipping further and further under her skirt, his other hand gripping her hip and forcing her down onto the desk, his lips brushing against her skin as they travelled up her neck, his tongue in her ear, "Tell me you want me, Ran-Chan…"

Opening her eyes to stare at the laptop screen, a blank image of her interviewer sat waiting patiently. She swallowed back the water in her eyes.

"We were dating," she answered evenly, "We broke up and the break up was… difficult."

She took a breath, "I want nothing more than to be far away from him."

Hence moving to the shittiest part of town where he would never even think to look for her. After all, he never saw her as much more than a princess Barbie doll with the occasional good idea.

"Well," Hyorinmaru said almost decisively a moment later, "That shouldn't be an issue anymore, from today onwards you will be working directly under myself as director of marketing."

Rangiku blinked, jaw dropping and jumping to her feet. Did he just give her a job?

"Oh thank you!" she squealed before she could stop herself. She began to dance in front her laptop, so glad the camera was turned off. This was the best news she'd had in months! She could finally get back to work. She could move! She could even go get her god damn acrylic nails put back on so she'd stop biting her real ones. This was amazing!

Eventually she realised she'd been silently partying for a moment too long and quickly cleared her throat, willing Mr Hyorinmaru to continue.

"You're welcome," Hyorinmaru said, "For the time being most of your work will come from Ukitake but I'll check in from time to time and may chat with you myself."

"Of course," Rangiku agreed hurriedly, overwhelmed with happiness at her second chance in the industry.

"For just now though I must go, I have another call starting," Hyorinmaru informed her, "I hope you have a good evening, welcome to Zeltrix."

Her new boss' final words seemed to echo around the small apartment before the disconnected call sound followed.

Later that evening, after she'd spent nearly two hours on the phone thanking Isshin over and over and practically promising to give him her first born child as a gift - she could never really repay him for what he'd done for her, recommending her to the head of Zeltrix despite her strong connections to their ultimate rival, Ukitake had sent her an email, congratulating her and welcoming her to the team. Attached was her brand new contract and Rangiku had almost fainted when she saw her new salary, which was almost twice her previous wage. Isshin had told her later (when she had called for the third time that evening to thank him) that Zeltrix paid by value to the team, not by gender like Game Station. Apparently her higher wage was currently the result of her experience and qualifications, and she also had the potential to receive a raise for worthy contributions to the business.

…

Rangiku's first day was the very next day and she was thrown straight into the deep end.

Firstly, she was very thankful that she had kept her old suits. She had almost considered selling them for some extra cash but her friend, Nanao, had talked her out of it, telling her she'd be employed again in no time and she'd regret getting rid of them. Luckily, Nanao was usually right about those sorts of things.

Secondly, her nails looked fantastic. She had gone straight to the nail parlour to get them fixed up. The attendant had told her off for biting them again, of course, but re-applied the acrylic set anyway. Rangiku had gotten them painted teal for the occasion – her new favourite colour – to match the Zeltrix's logo.

And thirdly, whoever was doing her job at Zeltrix before her was truly terrible at it. The desk was an absolutely mess, every marketing plan over the last five years was incomplete and inconsistent from the previous years and every person she was introduced to on day one greeted her with a great sigh of relief and the occasional "thank god, someone who knows what they're doing."

"You've certainly got your work cut out for you," Isshin murmured to her as he helped her clear the mess from her new desk, "The last marketing director was not very... ah, experienced or enthusiastic about her job. She left several months ago and since then it's been a shared role amongst a number of executives but none of them have a marketing background, so it's been rather difficult."

Isshin had been showing her around all morning, adding to the millions of reasons why she was so grateful to have the man back in her life. She had been so excited to reunite with him and Ichigo, who was no longer the surly teen who never came out of his bedroom but now a bright and sociable young man – engaged too, to Renji from Zeltrix's accounting department.

"Who was she?" Rangiku raised an eyebrow, 'and how did she even get this job?' The second bit was kept silent, however.

"Her name was Momo," Isshin answered, lowering his voice, "She's actually a cousin of one of our executives."

"Wait, Momo… Hinamori?" Rangiku gaped, "She works at Game Station now!"

In the background, a muttering broke out from the staff that had overheard her admittedly loud exclamation. She was surprised so many swear words could be used in one sentence.

Momo had joined the Game Station team only a few months ago, working as the CFO, Aizen's personal assistant. She seemed nice, but a bit of an airhead with an almost obsessive attachment to her boss/apparent boyfriend.

Isshin nodded solemnly, "It was a big blow for the team. She promised she'd never reveal any secrets, but I don't think anyone really trusts her."

Rangiku nodded thoughtfully, "She did mention her cousin worked for Zeltrix but she didn't say anything else as far as I'm aware. Gin and Aizen would nag her for hours about it though."

Isshin hummed disapprovingly, "Let's just hope she stays quiet."

By lunchtime, Rangiku began to feel more settled in her new role. Isshin had returned back to his office eventually, but not until he had introduced her to absolutely everyone and helped her get set up in her own office. Rangiku was beginning to feel very comfortable; everyone who worked there were incredibly welcoming, almost all of them saying "welcome to the family." It was a smaller company than Game Station but it was clear the staff were very close and Rangiku felt instantly at home.

She met the other members of the marketing team who would all be working under her. They were all quite young with brilliant and refreshing ideas but a lack of experience to pull it together without a strong leader. Ichigo, whose hair was still as bright as she remembered it, was to be her second in charge and he was going to be such an asset to her team, she was unbelievably excited to get to work. She even had an intern who was going to help her out one day a week as a part of a university requirement. She remembered her own internship and was more than happy to take him under her wing.

The first day had been a blur of new faces and new information that was all very overwhelming to take in, but by clock off time, she had already pulled together the beginnings of a brand new marketing campaign. It was still a loose string of ideas and concepts but she knew she could probably get a complete plan written by the end of the week. Ichigo was impressed with how quickly she'd pulled it together but it felt like second nature to her – Zeltrix was going to hit social media hard and she was going to use humour to do it. Social Media was no longer the future of marketing but the present, especially given the target age group for their gaming products. Game Station still used her old campaign but it was beginning to age now – a few months on social media might as well be a few years. Zeltrix could overtake in no time, provided Gin didn't find a good replacement for her soon.

At the end of the day, Isshin met her and Ichigo in her office and they walked out together, the two Shiba men inviting her to dinner and drinks at a nearby restaurant which apparently was a favourite of theirs and they would often have group dinners with the Zeltrix team there.

"Oh they have Katsudon here," Rangiku grinned at the menu, "I haven't had a pork cutlet bowl in ages,"

Largely because she hadn't been able to afford to eat out since quitting from Game Station and she wasn't a great cook either.

"Hmm, that's Hyorinmaru's favourite," Isshin murmured, "Gets it every time."

"And still the little prick never gains weight," Ichigo muttered sarcastically, noticeably sucking in his stomach and sighing at the salad options, "Gods, I miss carbs."

According to Isshin, Ichigo was on a strict diet for his upcoming wedding.

"Hey if you guys know Hyorinmaru personally, and so does Ukitake and all those other executives…" Rangiku started, "Does that mean I will get to meet him? I'm his marketing executive, right?"

Isshin seemed to hesitate, "You might get to meet him one day… but you'll need to earn a high level of trust from him first. We've known him since he was a kid, Ichigo went to the same school as him and I taught them both. He doesn't give trust away easily."

"But why does he hide?" Rangiku asked, a little deflated, "Gin used to say it's because he's secretly a lizard."

Ichigo barked with laughter, "That's not far from the truth, actually."

Isshin nudged his son in the ribs, "That's ridiculous, he's not a lizard. Hyorinmaru is just… a private person. He wants the world to see him for what he can do not what he looks like."

"Why?" Rangiku raised an eyebrow, "What does he look like?"

Looking entirely like he'd said too much, Isshin tried to back pedal quickly, "Well I didn't mean that he looks weird or anything, I just mean that he's just… well, shy, I guess."

"Shy?" Rangiku repeated, not believing it. Suddenly she was picturing anyone but an older Benedict Cumberbatch. Maybe Hyorinmaru was strange looking? Maybe he had grey scale like Shireen in Game of Thrones? Maybe he was a dwarf like Tyrion in Game of Thrones? Maybe he was a eunuch like – alright she had gone overboard with the Game of Thrones references, but maybe she wasn't completely wrong.

Maybe he was burnt or disabled or something?

Maybe he was actually a woman? It would explain the salary system being based on merit not gender and the 'he wants to be seen for what he can do not what he looks like' thing, but it did not explain the sexy deep voice.

…

"Hyorinmaru is going to love this," Ichigo breathed, reading through her draft plan, "If this is what you can do in a week, I can't wait to see what else you can do."

She had been at her new job exactly one week now and had pulled together a full draft of her social media marketing strategy. She just needed to get approval to go ahead with it and then she would be launching her first campaign for Zeltrix. She almost wished she could see the look on Gin's smug face when he realised where she had found work.

Rangiku's cheeks heated a little, "Thanks, Ichigo. I really hope the boss does like it, I really need this job to work out."

Ichigo smiled sympathetically before nodding back to the document, "You should send it to him and Rukia. I think they both have the day off today but Hyorinmaru never really stops, he'll definitely have a read through it."

"Who's Rukia?" Rangiku asked, not sure she was ever introduced to her.

"His assistant, basically," Ichigo smirked, "She's also a midget but don't tell her I said either of those things. She's in charge of PR."

Rangiku nodded, turning back to her screen, "I think I'll stay a bit longer and just tidy up this draft a little."

If she was bring honest, she didn't really want to go back to her small, dirty apartment just yet.

"No problem," Ichigo said, walking over to his desk and pick up his satchel, "We've got 24 hour security so you don't need to worry about locking up and a few people tend to stay back a while anyway. Don't work yourself too hard, Newbie."

Rangiku rolled her eyes at the cheeky strawberry's nickname for her. She was glad she could feel comfortable around her new colleagues and vice versa.

Ichigo chuckled before slipping out of the office and calling after his father whose office was at the other end of the corridor. Rangiku returned her focus to marketing brief and continued her work.

It wasn't until almost 7.30pm that Rangiku realised how late it was and that everyone else had already left. She sighed, saving the document again. Her eyes were getting irritated from staring at the screen for so long and her contacts weren't helping. She popped them out and switched to her glasses.

A little nervous about handing in her first piece of work, Rangiku attached the document to an email, searched for Rukia's address in the contact list and sent it off. Almost immediately an automatic reply from Rukia's email appeared in Rangiku's inbox citing that the PR manager would be out of office for the next few days.

Rangiku hesitated; she didn't know if Rukia accessed her emails while she was out of office and she didn't want to get in trouble in her first week for not getting her work approved. After a brief moment of deliberation, the strawberry blonde pulled up her new business skype account and located Hyorinmaru's contact details.

There was no harm in sending it to him was there? Worst case scenario, he gets a little mad she troubled him with her work when it's supposed to go through Rukia or Ukitake first? But surely he'd cut her some slack on her first week if she explained her dilemma? She'd only heard his voice, but it was a voice that seemed kind and fair. She decided to do it, quickly attaching the brief and typing a quick explanation and sent it off before she could hesitate again.

Not expecting him to reply that evening at all, Rangiku got her bag together and had her cursor hovering over the sleep button when suddenly a ding sounded, alerting her to a new skype message. Bringing back up the program, she saw that she had a new message from none other than her new boss.

Mr Hyorinmaru 19:24pm

I will have a look when I next get to my laptop.

Rangiku smiled at the message; it was incredibly unemotional but she didn't seem to be in any trouble. She decided to have another quick read through her draft, trying to read it from Hyorinmaru's perspective when another message popped up on her screen.

Mr Hyorinmaru 19:27pm

I appreciate the long working hours, make sure you don't stay in the office too long though. If I'm due you overtime or TOIL let me know.

Rangiku blinked; she'd never been offered overtime before. She knew it was legally required but she always had to chase it up at Game Station. Gin tried to hold on to every penny he could, which was awfully frustrating when she clocked almost sixty hours a week in the lead up to the release of a new campaign.

Matsumoto 19:28pm

I appreciate that Sir, I just lost track of time. Totally my fault but I hope you'll appreciate the end result :)

She had thrown the smiley face in automatically and without thinking. She was the queen of emoticons when she messaged her friends but for a second then, she forgot that was talking to her new employer.

'Oh well,' she shrugged to herself, the mysterious man (or woman, if her other theory was correct) could use a little humour.

The strawberry blonde got her items together again, stood from her chair and shrugged back on her coat. She found herself hoping he would reply and then, a few minutes later, he did.

My Hyorinmaru 19:32pm

I am sure I will.

'I hope so,' Rangiku thought before putting the computer to sleep and exiting her office.

…

The next morning Rangiku was not surprised to have not received any messages from her new boss about the proposal, she had sent it to him after hours and it wasn't likely he'd had a chance to read it before heading into the office or wherever it was that he worked. However, shortly after 10am, she noticed his skype was active. She decided to follow through on it.

Matsumoto 10:10am

Did you get a chance to look over the marketing proposal? :)

She added another smiley because she figured if she didn't get told off for the first one, she was probably okay to send another.

Her boss took a while to reply and she worried she might have interrupted him during an important call but eventually he got back to her.

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:23am

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I've been busy. Just looked at it now, it looks really good.

I see the angle you're taking and with social media the way it is just now I trust it will work.

Rangiku actually squealed that time, causing Ichigo to poke his head into her office, eyebrow raised.

"He liked it!" she gushed, beaming at her colleague over her screen, "He likes the social media idea."

"I told you!" Ichigo's smile widened, "He's got that quirky sense of humour too so he would have found a lot of it funny."

"Drinks on me tonight?" Rangiku grinned, "You can bring Renji!"

Her first pay day was yesterday and to see a decent figure in her bank account for the first time in months was very exciting.

"I'm on a diet," Ichigo reminded her with a playful glare.

"So?" Rangiku rolled her eyes, "I'll buy you a low carb beer."

"Fine," Ichigo sighed dramatically, "But only because it's your shout."

"And because we're celebrating," Rangiku added, "We've got approval on our first proposal."

"That too," agreed Ichigo before slipping back out of the room.

"Invite the rest of our team," Rangiku called after him, "They all deserve to celebrate."

"Okay, Newbie," was the muffled response.

Rangiku giggled; her and Ichigo were becoming very fast friends. He'd always been such a moody teenager when she had been his babysitter but he'd really brightened up since maturing.

Focusing back on her work, Rangiku typed her reply.

Matsumoto 10:25am

Thank you! :)

We've been working on a timeline for release and strategy as well as risks associated. Do you have time to look over this too?

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:25am

At the moment I don't I actually am about to go back to bed, however send them on I will look them over in the morning.

The reply was almost instant and Rangiku could only blink at it dumbly.

Go back to bed? It was 10am! Was he up really late the night before? Was he sick? Or was he just someone who preferred a lie in? She supposed he was the mystery CEO of a major gaming brand, he could probably do what he damn liked.

Matsumoto 10:26am

Bed? D:
How long were you up last night?

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:29am

I'm in Moscow, it's almost half four in the morning here.

'Moscow?' Rangiku gaped at the screen. Since when?! Was he always there, like from the time he'd interviewed her? Did the executives know he was overseas? Nobody had mentioned it to her.

And what on Earth was the man doing up at half past four in the morning?! That was just insanity that was. Rangiku was a big sleeper that was for sure, she loved sleeping in on weekends. There was nothing better than lying in bed and taking the time to wake up slowly. It was even better if she had someone next to her, someone she loved.

Matsumoto 10:30am

Oh wow, Sir you should really get to sleep, I'll stop chattering on. I'll send you those documents and then you can just send on your thoughts when you can.

Her fingers offered over the keyboard, very much wanting to type a second message. In truth, while she did want him to get a decent sleep in and didn't want to be the person stopping him from that, she did want to continue their conversation. It was almost personal now that it had veered away from business talk. She felt like she was starting to talk to the man not the CEO.

In the end, her fingers couldn't help themselves. Call it muscle memory or an unconscious instinct but she sent another message anyway, leaving it up to him whether he wanted to reply or not. He was a grown man ('or woman' she reminded herself) and therefore could make his own decisions and put himself to bed if that's what he needed.

Matsumoto 10:32am

I've never been to Moscow before.

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:32am

It's a beautiful city, a little conservative like Japan compared to the rest of the world though.

Matsumoto 10:33am

:o Where else in the world have you been?

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:36am

I've been almost everywhere; France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Thailand, Russia, Israel, Japan, Morocco, Africa, Greenland, America, Canada, Britain, Ireland… in fact I think it would be easier to give you a list of countries I haven't been haha.

He'd added a 'haha'! Of course, she usually only did two 'ha's if she was being sarcastic and closer to five or six if she was actually finding something funny, but men weren't like that in most cases; a two 'ha'ed 'haha' was usually pretty genuine from them, she found.

She was surprised he was still humouring her but she loved it. Very slowly, he was becoming more of an image in her head. She saw him in her mind, standing at the large windows at the airport, observing the baggage handlers as they loaded suitcase after suitcase onto his next flight. A man – tall, dark hair, broad shoulders – wearing an expensive suit and checking his Armani wrist watch, a small sized suitcase as his hand luggage patiently waiting by his side.

A well-travelled business man; he'd truly been everywhere. She wondered briefly why he needed to travel so much if he never met clients in person, but figured it was rude to ask. Maybe he just liked to travel and was able to do it considering his apparent ability to work remotely. Perhaps he was in the field, researching gaming trends around the world first hand.

Matsumoto 10:38am

That's so impressive! I've only ever been out of Japan a handful of times. Gin never thought I was important enough to send travelling but funnily enough he'd send a lot of the male members of the marketing team.

She couldn't help the stab at Gin. She was pretty bitter about that, however. Her former boss – and boyfriend – would never let her go on the business trips with the other marketing team members, citing that she was 'too important to leave the office right now.' It was bullshit and everyone knew it. He was sexist as anything, which was the main reason for many of their arguments and the reason why she had broken up with him in the end. Gin also liked to keep her close; he was possessive and could measure his trust for her with a teaspoon, fully believing she'd actually cheat on him if he let her out of his sight for even a minute, let alone a week spent in another country.

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:41am

That won't be an issue with me. I'll have you attend any event I see fit regardless of the country assuming you're okay to travel there.

She knew what he meant by the last part of the sentence. A year ago she probably would have been offended; she was a big girl, she could take care herself, she was smart – but after what had happened with Gin… well, she didn't exactly want to be in any situation like that again… or any situation that reminded her of that situation. She wasn't exactly… okay yet, no matter what she tried to tell herself otherwise.

Shaking it off, and projecting her normal happy self, she replied again.

Matsumoto 10:42am

I appreciate that Sir :D

Weren't you going to go to bed? I'm sorry if I've kept you up…

She didn't want to keep him up, especially since it was almost 5am his time (she had added Moscow to her world clock so she could be more considerate of his sleeping pattern next time she messaged him), and she also didn't want him to think she had spent the last twenty minutes slacking off on his time (even though she'd barely touched her work since they had picked up this little conversation).

He seemed to take forever to respond. As the minutes went by, she had almost given up, assuming he'd fallen asleep on her. Who could blame him though? It was bloody 5am. Eventually, however, she got her reply:

Mr Hyorinmaru 10:50am

You didn't keep me up don't worry. I will look at the timeline and risks in the morning and get back to you, good night Matsumoto.

Rangiku smiled, closing the Skype tab. She gave him several minutes to shut down his computer and get into bed before she sent in the risks and timeline documents, hoping that he wouldn't hear a notification sound as he tried to get back to sleep. She just wanted it to be there for him in the morning so he could read it at his own pace, depending on what he had on that day.

She leaned back in her chair and smiled softly. She did hold out hope that she might be able to have another phone call with him soon; she wanted to hear that smooth voice again. It had been so deep and even soothing, like his voice alone could tame a vicious ocean storm.

…

"Here's to Rangiku's first week," Ichigo toasting, raising his glass of (extra low carb) beer, "And to the first of many successful proposals."

"Here, here," Renji cheered as group clinked their classes together.

"You guys are so sweet," Rangiku giggled, taking another sip of her wine.

As promised, she had taken her new team out for drinks. Everyone had come except the intern who was only nineteen and therefore not legally able to drink at the bar with them. Renji had joined them too, just as she had told Ichigo he could. Even though he was in another department, the tall and burly red head was good friends with many of her new team members. From what she gathered, the company was so close that there were lots of friendships across departments. This was another significant difference of Zeltrix to Game Station, where friendships mostly remained within the boundaries of someone's own department, and in fact, departments were often so competitive with each other for budget and resource allocations, there was actually a lot of hate between them.

It was beginning to get late now, and many members of her team had left to get home to their families. Ichigo and Renji were still with her and one or two other colleagues were still there but had drifted to the other end of the bar to play on the old arcade machines lining the back wall.

"So have you chosen a song for the first dance yet?" Rangiku asked.

Somehow, with only knowing them a week, she had scored an invitation to their wedding next April. She was so excited, almost everyone from work was going and it was a hot topic around the office. They were already taking bets on who would be the best dressed, worst dressed, most likely to dance on a table, most likely to drink too much, most likely to pack it in early, and so on and so forth. Rangiku also secretly hoped Hyorinmaru would make an appearance as he knew Ichigo personally. Even if he came in without announcing himself as the boss, she would happily talk to every single person at the wedding to find that familiar voice.

"We're having the band cover 'Is This Love' by Bob Marley," Ichigo answered, "But slowing it down a bit."

"I'm going to get dreadlocks in my hair to be extra reggae," Renji chimed in, earning himself a punch in the gut for his efforts.

"You are not," Ichigo said sternly, "You'll have neat braids instead."

"Sure, Honey," Renji smirked, an evil glint in his eyes.

Rangiku laughed; she could see him turning up with dreadlocks and Ichigo losing it over them. They were the weirdest couple she'd ever known; they were alike in many ways but in the ways that often clashed. They were both dominant, stubborn and loud, Rangiku could only imagine the ferocity of any arguments they might ever have. Still though, as she watched Renji hook a finger under Ichigo's chin and draw him in for a quick kiss, smiles on both of their faces, she couldn't help but marvel at how perfect they were together. They seemed to just get each other.

"Alright, next round's on me," Renji announced, getting up from his seat, "Same again?"

Rangiku nodded while Ichigo had asked for a soda water instead, a request which he was promptly denied.

"Bastard," Ichigo muttered under his breath before turning back to Rangiku, "So you're liking Zeltrix then? Better than Game Station? The correct answer is yes, by the way."

"So much better," Rangiku agreed quickly, nodding enthusiastically, "Everything is better here."

"How long were you at Game Station for?" Ichigo laughed, "Got any secrets you could spill?"

"I was there for almost four years," Rangiku replied, "No secrets that would help Zeltrix, unfortunately. Zeltrix is definitely the stronger company, the only problem is they've never been able to utilise their marketing strengths before, so they lose a huge chunk of the market in sales."

"Marketing really can make or break a company sometimes," Ichigo agreed, "With you on board, we'll overtake them in no time."

"Guaranteed," Rangiku laughed, "We've got a really strong team."

"If you hated it so much, why did you stay for four years?" asked the strawberry.

Rangiku's face fell a little, "Well I didn't hate it, not in the beginning. Things just… changed. People changed. I quit because I felt like I couldn't go back there after… well, things changed."

Ichigo looked at her questioningly, "What do you mean?"

Rangiku grimaced into her wine; how was she going to explain it without giving much away? She hated talking about why she had left. She couldn't even bring herself to think it through let alone talk about it out loud, with people actually listening.

"I was close with the CEO, Gin," Rangiku sighed, looking away, "Dating, actually… but things didn't work out between us. Things really didn't work out, and he didn't take it very well when I broke it off."

Ichigo stared at her with a concerned expression, before leaning in and speaking softly.

"Did he hurt you? Physically, I mean."

Yes.

"No," Rangiku lied, "But I couldn't work there anymore."

Ichigo looked as if he was about to say something else but before he could, Renji was back and placing drinks in front of them, muttering about the 'disgusting' price of a rum and coke.

"What did I miss?" the redhead asked, sitting down with a huff.

"Ichigo was telling me all about his sexual fantasies," Rangiku grinned slyly, winking at his direction.

"Oh, that Black Widow thing again?" Renji asked seriously, "I told you, Babe, I might have Scarlett Johansson's hair colour but I'm not going to fit into that little leather costume you bought me."

Ichigo flushed bright red and Rangiku burst out laughing, so glad she had these two idiots in her life now. They pushed the bad thoughts right out of her mind.

…

That night, Rangiku jolted awake, eyes wide and gasping for air.

She could still hear his voice, his laughter as he held her down.

She could still feel his hands on her, his tongue forcing itself in her mouth.

She could still see him when she closed her eyes.

A sob ripped from her throat and her handed fisted her shirt tightly, just over her heart.

It all hurt. Physically, mentally, her whole being was in pain.

She was repulsed even by the idea of his touch, and yet never had she wanted someone to hold her as she did in that moment. She needed love; to love and to be loved. It didn't have to be romantic. She wished she could call up her parents, she really wished she could just crawl into their bed between them as she had as a child having night terrors, but she could not let them see her this way. She could not let them know what he had done to her.

She was too proud.

She was too ashamed.

Gods, she hated herself.

She hated her looks – all tits and ass and no brains. Sure, she was intelligent on paper and she was good at her job, but she wasn't smart. If she was smart, she would have never gotten involved with Gin in the first place. If she had been smart, she would have applied for a job at Zeltrix years ago. She was just a body, just as most people perceived her.

Maybe that was the alcohol talking, but maybe it was also the truth.

She picked up the nearest pillow and held it to her face, her tears rapidly soaking through the thin fabric of her pillowcase. She should have taken up Ichigo and Renji's offer to stay at their place as they lived only a block away from the bar, but even after their celebratory drinks, Rangiku had considered herself sober enough to get home okay. She had been sober enough, that was true, but she would have given anything for their company right now.

She couldn't understand why she was so happy during the day and such a mess a night. She had a good group of friends, both old and new (even though she couldn't tell them about her darkest moments), and she a great new job and boss. Her life was coming back together beautifully in the daylight, and yet every night she woke up like this.

A sobbing emotional wreck with nothing but the snake-like hiss of her former employer in her ear.

Rangiku reached across to her night stand, pulling the phone from its charger. The device hovered in her hand but her finger was still over the skype app button. She knew who she wanted to call but she had no idea why she'd automatically picked him.

They'd had exactly two full conversations. One was a job interview, the other was half-business, half emoticons and two 'ha'ed 'haha's.

She shook her head and threw her phone to the other side of the bed. It was a stupid thought; it would be incredibly inappropriate to trouble him with such a personal issue, not to mention outrageous that she would turn to him after knowing him for a week without even having met him in person or knowing his real name or image.

The blonde wiped her eyes and nose with her long sleeves and laid back down, curling around a pillow. She pulled her multitudes of blankets up over her head (since her new apartment hadn't come with heating), and stared into the darkness, afraid to close her eyes and see Gin again.

Her new boss wasn't to be the only one up at 4am this time.

…

Please review and let us know your thoughts!