(Recap)

Letting out a sigh, Ichigo gave the old man a grin, "Rukia-san was the one to overlook this project, sir. I think it's better to seal the deal with her."

With a small, knowing nod of approval, Yamamoto brought his hand lower on level to Rukia's own, "will you accept, Rukia-san?"

Caught by surprise, Rukia hastily bowed and took the large, calloused hands with her own, "y-yes. Thank you for your co-operation!"

Allowing her arm to return to her side, Rukia took a quick side-glance at Ichigo as those of from the other company began to pack.

'And just like that… you did it again…'

Rukia was still pissed at him.

Yamamoto Genryuusai, in that very room and at that very time, had the life of Tensho Corporation in the palm of his hands - that alone should've been enough of a reason for a person to avoid getting on the wrong side of the company president. To think that Ichigo had the audacity to call Yamamoto-shacho an 'old geezer' clearly showed that he was severely mentally impaired.

Really, don't get her wrong, Rukia always knew he had one too many loose screws when taking risks; but honestly, there should've been a limit on how stupid a human could be.

Stepping out of the conference room, she saw the orange idiot casually speaking with one of GUI's board leaders who had come today – a man with long, wavy brown hair and an unusual sense of fashion. Seeing Ichigo grin and nod at what the other man was saying, Rukia absent-mindedly clenched the report booklet in her hands with a firmer grip. Rukia had no doubts that their meeting could've run a lot smoother, however, she would've been lying to herself if she had said that she wasn't thankful at the positive turn of events. With the draft so hastily put together to meet the abrupt demand, Rukia was almost certain that the renowned company wouldn't bother to look at it twice. Had Yamamoto Genryuusai been dissatisfied with the project in any way, it would've been too big of a loss on their part.

In her daze, it took Rukia a moment to realize that Ichigo had turned around to mention her to him with a small hand gesture. Raising a brow, she pointed to herself and silently mouthed her question.

"Me?"

Her brow dipped into a frown when he enthusiastically nodded and gestured for her even more fervently. Holding the booklet by her side, Rukia straightened her back and slowly started to walk towards him and the board leader in a cautious tread. All the while, she mumbled under her breath – what could the idiot possibly want with her now?

The sound of her heels clicking against the corridor floors came to a halt as Rukia stood in front of Ichigo and the GUI board leader. Her raven-black hair lightly brushed over her face as she gave a formal bow to both of them, "could I assist you with anything, Kurosaki-shacho. Kyoraku-san?"

Kyoraku Shunsui gave Rukia a carefree smile, "ah! You did a wonderful job today, Rukia-chan. Yama-ji has high expectations you know, but he's thoroughly pleased with what you managed to produce."

Rukia silently pondered to herself about the casual way the man in front of her had just addressed Yamamoto-shacho, but merely shook her head, "it couldn't have been possible without the drafting and evaluation team. Most importantly, we must thank you for accepting our project, I'm sure it was lacking in many areas."

"You know what I noticed about this company, Rukia-san?" Kyoraku Shinsui gave the shorter woman a small, gentle smile, "it values their workers; it's something that is going to take you a long way."

The smile turned into a grin stretching across thin, stubbled cheeks, "we don't get to observe a lot of places with such positive working vibes like the ones here, it's nice to see it from such a young company."

Rukia ushered a word of gratitude at the compliment before looking at Ichigo from the corner of her eyes.

In a way, it was all thanks to him that cooperation and dedication in the company was as good as it was. Ever since she could remember, Kurosaki Ichigo had the air of a leader around him.

He put in the effort to work with everyone in the company - the trainees; the newly transferred; the board leaders; the secretaries. He could draw up a draft from scratch and knew what it was like to stay up until midnight finishing it. He could evaluate a report and knew the stress of getting everything checked and regulated for the final deal. He even personally delivered and registered the products, and knew how hard the physical toil was.

Kurosaki Ichigo labored just as well and just as hard as any of the workers who were employed under him. He knew that being the chief executive officer was his duty and not a right – that he had to put his employees first in assisting and guiding them. And in a way, it was his thriving efforts that have gained him such a loyal and dedicated network of people under him.

Softly shaking her head and smiling to herself, Rukia had to give it to him for being one hell of a good boss; "well, we have Kurosaki-shacho to thank for such an efficient group of people, really."

At the casual remark, Kyoraku's eyes glinted with a light that betrayed his innocent smile, "you two seem like great partners," the teasing gaze shifted from Rukia to Ichigo and back to Rukia, "brilliant team dynamic; both ambitious and excellent inter-harmony. It's almost like you were meant for each other."

The raven-haired woman would've choked on air if it were possible. From her side, Rukia heard a barely audible chuckle from her boss. Of all the things to say!

"Kyoraku-san! Please! That's completely absurd. The only reason you had to be subjected to-" Rukia lazily waved her hand around as if trying to grab the words out from the air, "- such a farce was simply because Kurosaki-shacho has a hobby of making life overly dramatic. Please – never suggest that again, I beg of you."

"Hmm?" Kyoraku mirthfully hummed as he shifted his eyes to Ichigo only to see him playfully shrugging his shoulders behind the shorter woman. Rukia, noticing the older man's lingering peek over her shoulders, immediately whirled her head to see Ichigo's face contorted in a sheepish grin and his shoulders raised in a shrug. Kyoraku attempted to hold back his chortle in futile effort as he saw Rukia glaring silently at the young CEO.

If she wasn't in the presence of an audience, Rukia would've elbowed the Orange-Berry-Idiot in the gut, her job be damned.

It was bad enough that the entire corporate building already saw her with his coat – but this was just getting ridiculous. If those people had any idea – any at all – of the sort of 'relationship' they had between them, they wouldn't so eagerly try to pair them together!

Utterly.

Ridiculous.

In her string of spiteful musings, Rukia's ears perked at the small chuckles that escaped from Ichigo's lips, 'oh, he's enjoying this way too much…'

Slowly attempting to relax the muscles scrunched tensely between her brows, Rukia gave the two superiors a low bow, "well, if that is all, I will be taking my leave." Straightening herself and turning around to leave, Rukia almost dropped the booklet that was in her arms when a hand on her shoulder stopped her from going any further.

"And where do you think you're going?"

The grip on her shoulder tightened marginally before Rukia was twirled around and back at Ichigo's side – somewhat unbalanced on her feet. Ichigo looked down at her with his usual grin in place, "aren't you going to come to the congratulatory party, Rukia-san?"

Shooting a cold glare up at Ichigo, Rukia reached up to grab the offending hand that gripped her shoulder and was about to pry it off before Kyoraku piped up in surprise, "you're not coming to the party?"

With her slender fingers encircled around Ichigo's palm, Rukia froze and stared at the confused expression that had laced the older man's face, "well… you see…"

Rukia could almost feel the berry-saboteur grinning behind her back. She made it a job to avoid these sort of parties whenever possible, but here she was getting a pout from one of the most prominent board directors in the marketing world – how the hell do you say no to that?

"Of…course I'll go… you can expect me there, Kyoraku-san…"

With a sigh of relief and an approving nod, Kyoraku bid farewell and walked off to speak with his white-haired colleague.

Collapsing her face into her hand, Rukia gingerly massaged the bridge of her nose at how the events had just played out. Ichigo grinned to himself at how Rukia had forgotten to take his hand off her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze; "I feel privileged that the great Rukia-sama is going to grace our commoner party with her presence."

A deliberately slow turn of a head from Rukia was enough for Ichigo to take his hand off her shoulder in caution, "sometimes, Kurosaki Ichigo, you inspire my inner serial killer tendencies."

As Rukia began to walk away in the direction of her office, Ichigo casually trailed behind her in amusement, "really? Coming from the great Ice Princess herself, I'd actually take that as a compliment."

Rukia's lips drew up in a small smile as she quietly acknowledged the passing colleagues who had greeted her along her way.

"You should smile more often," Ichigo teased from behind her, "it actually makes you look some-what human."

The smile never dropped from Rukia's lips, "even though I'm smiling, it doesn't mean I don't want to hit you in the face, Kurosaki-san."

"All this anti-social behavior is turning you into a sociopath, Rukia-san, I worry for your state of mentality," Ichigo taunted.

As soon as Rukia noticed that they were now the only two on the entire office floor, she pursed her lips and silently counted to ten in her mind. She was already nearing her office and the berry-idiot was still following behind her.

Then again, she couldn't say she was making much of an effort to brush him off. You can't stop a CEO from entering an office that's inside a building he owned – no matter how much of an annoying idiot he was.

"I'm not 'anti-social', Kurosaki-san. I'm selectively social. There's a difference."

A deadpanned expression immediately flashed across Ichigo's face, "do I need to remind you who you are best friends with?"

Rukia huffed, "and if she were your best friend, Kurosaki-san, you'd come to understand exactly why it is that I choose to be selectively social" a deep, untapped look of torment took hold of her expressions, "if you've only seen Rangiku during corporate celebrations – then you haven't seen anything yet…"

Ichigo slightly thought on this, "is this why you don't go to many of the parties we hold?"

Rukia stood in front of her office door and opened it, "…I simply do not see the merit behind getting intoxicated in a setting where professional conduct is vital," her expression scrunched into that of mild distaste, "I'm perfectly content with not seeing the drunk faces of some of the most prominent economical leaders of the world."

Ichigo grinned and merely stood outside the door as Rukia walked inside the room to grab her coat and bag from the desk, "don't you wonder what kind of a drunk, old man Yamamoto would be?"

His grin widened ever so slightly at Rukia's stiff posture.

"Maybe he's a happy drunk? Could you imagine? The great Yamamoto Shigekuni with his neck tie around his head singing 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna."

Rukia wanted to cry as the mental image bombarded her reluctant mind. She could imagine – but it definitely didn't mean she should. It refused to dissipate from her mind! A karaoke room blinking with disco lights and one prominent company leader dancing to Madonna's 1980's hit song.

'God help me.'

Collecting the papers that were strewn around her office desk, Rukia paused to look over her shoulder and send Ichigo a glare, "my biggest fear right now is that I'll wake up and this conversation won't be a dream."

"You imagined it," Ichigo sung out, "I also noticed you didn't lock your door this time. Can I take it as an invitation, Rukia-san?"

Did Rukia ever mention how much she absolutely loathed this man?

Frowning to herself, Rukia briefly inspected her shelf before reaching in to grab a pale green binder and organized the paperwork into the rings, "Well, Kurosaki-san, it didn't take long for me to realize that the janitors, who hold the master key to every room in this building, were all technically hired by you."

On the other hand, Rukia was secretly thankful that Ichigo hadn't thought of ordering the door to be removed in its entirety. Because knowing him, he was capable of that and then some.

With her blazer hung over her left arm, Rukia grabbed onto her bag with her right and started to make her way towards the exit. Heels clicked against the floor before they stopped, "you seem to be blocking the doorway, Kurosaki-san."

This prompted the man to stretch his arms out and rest them on the doorframe, which, Rukia noted, suddenly looked narrow, compared to his size.

"You know, I kind of thought we settled on moving past that stage."

A look of confusion crossed Rukia's face, "stage? What stage?"

Ichigo inched himself closer to Rukia, silently pleased when she didn't take a step back. The woman sure knew how to hold her ground, and that's what he adored. Rukia never took anything lying down, "you know, the stage in our relationship where you can comfortably call me by my name."

Shaking her head to dismiss his comment, Rukia took a small step forward thinking that her nonchalant indifference to the proximity would persuade Ichigo to back off. She frowned when she noticed that this man refused to budge and silently cursed at herself when she saw his eyes gleam in amusement, 'oh shit, he's enjoying this, isn't he...'

Carefully, she took a step back to where she was before so as not to get swept up in his little game, "Kurosaki-san, after all that trouble you went through to sabotage me into attending, I believe it is you who will make us late for the celebration if you keep this up."

Ichigo merely shrugged, "between a corporate party and an entire empty floor with only you and me in it – I think I know my priorities."

"Kyoraku-san is expecting us to be there, and no doubt the other members of the board as well…" her words trailed off as Rukia slowly started to take a step back for each step Ichigo took forward. Oh no, no, no, no, no… She watched enough chick flicks to know where tangoes like these ended.

Rukia bit her lip when her lower back hit the couch and she found herself imprisoned yet again in a makeshift cage of well-toned muscle. Space. She needed space. Did he put on more muscle? Oh god, why was his face so close.

She almost whimpered, "uhm… Kurosaki-san…"

His glimmering eyes turned a shade darker. Maybe calling out his name like that wasn't such a great idea…

Locking his hands that were on the couch behind her back, Ichigo was so close that his forehead almost touched hers. Seeing her wide eyes look up at him, he felt a deep dominant-male awareness run its course through his system when he noticed how petite Rukia's figure was compared to his own – he could simply whisk her away with no effort, lock her up and keep her to himself.

'Make her mine.'

Biting her lip in unease, Rukia immediately regretted her actions when she saw his eyes dart down to her lips. Excuses… she needed excuses.

"You… you wouldn't want to miss Yamamoto-shacho singing, would you…"

A heavy silence fell between the two as Ichigo merely blinked at Rukia's – dare he say it – pouting face, "you really scraped the bottom of the barrel with that one, didn't you…"

Rukia was going to die from embarrassment. But desperation won out over pride and she was once again bombarded with the mental image of a singing… dancing company president and Ichigo's goddamn smug-ass face floating in the corners of her mind.

This was what Kurosaki Ichigo reduced her to.

A complete mental case.

With a cheeky shake of his head, Ichigo backed up from Rukia, "I'll let you go for that one."

Rukia let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and had to give it to Ichigo for not being a total stubborn and perverted jerk, "Thank you. I was worried that I'd have to start kissing your feet, Kurosaki."

The two proceeded to make their way to the door and Rukia only prayed that they hadn't delayed too long.

"You're cute when you pout," grinning, Ichigo side-glanced at a flushed Rukia and closed the door behind them.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Hmm. What is it, honey?"

"Shut up."

"Yes ma'am."

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To be continued…

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Read. Smile. Review.

So… Hi… Guess who's still alive.

Firstly, I just wanted to point out that I started University this year, which explains the large part of why I haven't been updating.

Secondly, I was (still am technically) having really bad writer's block… which explains the rest of the part of why I haven't been updating.

Thirdly, this chapter was actually written up at least 6 months ago… but I really didn't like where it was, story-wise, and swore to edit it and rearrange everything – which I delayed for so long x_x.

Lastly, I still come back to my story frequently – just because I'm not updating, doesn't mean I don't see every single favorite/watch and review I receive! I see them all and appreciate them all so much :D! You guys still send me so much encouragement even though I'm the type of writer everyone (even myself) hates since they never update their story _ .

I know this chapter was a bit short, but I've started on the next chapter already… just depends on how motivated and free I am to update it as quickly.

Regards,

M