I'm sorry for the late update, it's not my fault this time. I've been trying to update for more than a week now, but I keep receiving an error message. Thank you all for your comments, I adored your reviews, so keep them coming okay? They mean the world to me, and keep me writing this.

I hope you enjoy!

"Okay Kuchiki Taichou, why don't you go ahead and make yourself comfortable while I make the tea, ne?" asked an overexcited Orihime, while Byakuya just nodded curtly and visibly annoyed.

He sat on the couch and watched the girl disappear into the kitchen. He wanted to kick himself for letting her come along, he was tired and all he wanted to do was take a warm shower and go straight to bed. To think of her, of how he missed her, of how he lost her; he sighed, maybe listening to Orihime incessant chat would help him get his mind off of Rukia for a while. He snorted, 'like that could ever happen' he thought. He leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes for a moment, images of his beloved Rukia flashing trough his mind.

Orihime carefully took a small vial from her purse, if Szayel was right, it would only take a few drops. She pulled one of her hairs and put it inside the clear liquid inside said vial. It disintegrated immediately; then she poured a few drops into Byakuya's tea. For a moment she hesitated; the sixth squad captain was well known for his self-control and this may be the only opportunity she'd ever have. She poured the rest of the liquid into the tea, throwing the empty vial in the trash can before heading for the living-room with a soft smile on her face.

"No, Ichigo, I want to go to see Byakuya first!" wined Rukia, making her protector roll his eyes.

"We need to let everyone know you're back and safe Rukia, come on, I bet Byakuya's in the shoten too" tried Ichigo, but she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly.

"He won't be, it's already quite late, and I need to get to him right now" she protested, popping a vein in his forehead.

"Why is it so important? Come on, midget, you'll have all the time in the world to cuddle with Mr. I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass after we explain things to everyone" that only infuriated Rukia all the more, who turned to pierce Ichigo with the deadliest glare.

"First of all I do NOT want to cuddle, I need to get to him before he receives the hell-butterfly from his clan, I don't want him to misinterpret the message, you overgrown, dumb strawberry…and he DOES NOT have a stick up his butt" she was breathing heavily, her nostrils flaring dangerously and her face red. She looked adorable when she was pissed off, Ichigo smiled.

"Okay, midget I see your point now" he said as they started to walk the few blocks which separated them from Byakuya's apartment "was it really so hard to explain it to me? I think not" he joked, making her chuckle.

"You're supposed to respect my every whish without questions anyway, aren't you supposed to be my protector or something?"

"Well I'm sorry, my all-mighty queen, but as your protector it is my job to protect you from doing stupid shit, it's only natural for me to demand an explanation" he snorted, making her chuckle.

"How is it stupid to want to see Byakuya?" she asked with a longing smile, as Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"It's not wise to choose cuddling over giving your friends some peace of mind, midget"

"I wasn't thinking about cuddling!" she protested, blushing furiously, making Ichigo laugh.

"Alright, alright, don't get so worked up; damn, Rukia you are such a prude" he teased, irritating her all the more.

"I am not a prude, strawberry! Now hush, I want to surprise him" the soft, sweet smile in her face, warmed Ichigo's heart; he loved seeing her so happy, mostly because he really did love her, with every inch of him he did, just not in the way he used to think he loved her. He smiled as he recalled the conversation he had with his father a few weeks ago, when Isshin finally explained him the nature of the bond he shared with Rukia and he was finally able to fully understand the truth of his feelings for her. He'll love her always, unconditionally, and it'll hurt them both to be apart for too long. They'll need each other and help each other for as long as they live, their bond was beyond friendship, but it was not romantic love. It was something very hard to explain, it was unique, something just about them that no-one could ever break or destroy. It swelled his heart with happiness and warmth.

They were at the front door and Rukia was about to grab the knob when a sound stopped them both dead on their tracks. It was deep, loud, woman's moan.

Rukia turned to Ichigo with wide, confused eyes while she shook his head lightly.

"Maybe Renji or Shuuhei?" he murmured, but she just shook her head no. Then the look in her eyes made him panic, he needed to get her out of there…now, his gut told him so. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away from the door, but she pushed him away and opened it slowly. What they saw made Ichigo's heart fuel-up in pure rage.

There, in the middle of the living-room was his former girlfriend completely nude, in all fours with her mouth wide open, drool dripping from her chin, moaning loudly while an equally nude Kuchiki Byakuya pounded mercilessly into her from behind.

Rukia gasped quietly as her heart broke. Ichigo made a move to enter the room but she stopped him, and closed the door. The hurt in her eyes made Ichigo want to break into that room and murder them both slowly and painfully for hurting her like this. She understood what he wanted but shook her head no.

"Please Ichigo…take me away" she pleaded with thick tears running down her cheeks and he did as he was told; he gathered her in his arms and shumpoed with Rukia to his home.

A beautiful and quite adorable hell butterfly landing on Orihime's ass pulled Byakuya out of his lust-driven course. He stopped fucking her altogether and froze in realization of what he's been doing. He emptied the girl, who let out a moan in protest and he quickly grabbed his shirt, putting it on. By the time he was zipping up his pants, the girl turned around to see why she was not being filled into oblivion with the amazingly thick and long cock she was enjoying just a moment ago and frowned upon seeing a much clothed Byakuya.

"Leave" he said coldly.

"But, Byakuya…" she wined, enraging him deeply.

"Do not call me by my name, EVER AGAIN, do you understand?" he almost yelled; the girl nodded fervently, gathering her clothes.

The hell butterfly posed itself on the armchair as Byakuya sat down beside it, staring deeply at its lovely batting wings. Once Orihime was fully dressed she headed for the door, but before she left she turned around once more.

"Kuchiki Taichou I…"

"Leave now, and never speak to me again" he replied coldly not looking at her, missing the anger flash through her eyes.

"Very well then" she said before closing the door.

Byakuya offered a long delicate finger to the butterfly, which happily flew at it before delivering her message.

"Kuchiki Sama, it is our duty to inform you that, Kuchiki Rukia no longer belongs to our clan. She now belongs to the spirit-King's clan and is to be known as Kioshi Rukia. The Spirit-King thanks our family for taking care of her all these years, and promises our kindness will not be forgotten. She is to be back in the human world shortly to carry on with the mission. The elders congratulate you, Kuchiki Sama, as the King sends his special regards to your persona."

Byakuya's breath hitched in his chest, she was coming back? She was not a Kuchiki anymore? How was he going to face her after what he just done, with that human girl no less? He felt like a bastard and a disgrace, for the first time in his long life he was ashamed and deeply disgusted with himself. He rose from the couch and headed to the bathroom. He stripped from his clothes, planning on burning them after his shower, and stepped under the hot water, wishing he could burn his body along with the clothes.

He would ask Urahara for a new gigai, he would take hot baths until his skin fell apart but he could not fool himself, he would be forever tainted from now on, and he could never touch his beautiful angel ever again without tainting her as well. He was no longer worthy of her love.

All through that fateful night Ichigo held her, as her heart broke over and over again. Eventually his shirt got soaked with her tears, and every time her sobs grew louder he would held her tighter against his chest, feeling her pain, hating the cause of it, wanting desperately to murder the betrayers.

If he was to be honest, he was not quite shocked about Orihime's actions, but Byakuya…oh, that was a whole other story. He could not believe the guts in that bloody noble, how dare he replace someone so fucking perfect as Rukia with Inoue? True, he dated the girl for years, but he always knew she had nothing against Rukia NOT A DAMN THING.

He held the broken angel tighter, and whispered comforting words into her ear lovingly. As the sun began to rise she calmed down, but when Ichigo was finally able to look into her eyes he did not like what he saw, not one bit.

They looked empty, and there was no light coming from them; Ichigo shook his head and sat up in the bed, cupping her cheeks.

"No no no, midget, don't give up on me now, not because of the likes of them" he said bitterly, earning a sad chuckle from her.

"What's the point, Ichigo? He lied to me, he never loved me he…" she was about to cry again, but he would have none of that.

"Listen to me, if he lied to you then SHAME ON HIM" Rukia's eyes went wide "He's the one that's a stupid moron if he could not see what a magnificent and unique woman you are, and if he couldn't do it, then he does not deserve you!" he was looking deeply into her eyes, showing her how much he meant every word.

"I…Ichigo I am not I'm…" she tried to look away, visibly ashamed but he won't let her.

"You are the most beautiful, sexy, intelligent, kind, strong, valiant and warm hearted woman I have ever met in my entire life, and just so you know, me and my hollow've been fantasizing about you for years!" she gasped at his words, her eyes wide and questioning. Ichigo blushed realizing what he just said, but then he sighed, there was no turning back now. He released her face, and looked away.

"Ichigo…"

"it's true Rukia, before I knew about what we had I…I thought I was in love with you, I thought about you every day, I even started to date Inoue because I thought she could help me forget about you….but she didn't…"

"I…I didn't know Ichigo I….never thought…"

"You never do, Rukia…you never seem to realize how beautiful and special you are…" she hooked a finger under his chin, motioning him to look at her. When their eyes met, she could tell everything he said was absolutely true; she smiled at him, an honest, lovely smile.

"Thank you Ichigo" she said with all the emotions of her heart, making him smile too.

"Anytime" he replied softly. Then after a moment she released him, letting out a soft laugh.

"I'm glad you are over me now…" she commented as Ichigo chuckle.

"The fact that I now understand what bind us together doesn't mean I am over you midget…I'd still jump you if you'd ever give me the sightliest chance" he said with a mischievous smirk, making her blush.

"Ichigo!" she wined, punching his arm playfully. He smirked.

"I'm not saying I am going to! It's not like I don't know it's forbidden…but a boy can dream, ne?" Rukia smiled at his kind, loving words, and nodded.

"Of course you can" she said warmly, wrapping her arms around him. Ichigo held her tightly against his chest, burying his head on her hair.

"If you ever mention this conversation again midget, I swear…"

"Don't worry, strawberry, it'll be our little secret, alright?" she said sweetly and playfully at the same time, making him laugh.

"Deal"

"Okay…I think I'm going to get a nice, long shower now" she said disentangling herself from him.

"Yeah, you do that" he watched her turn once she got to the door, looking at him with beautiful, alive eyes.

"Thank you, Ichigo" she said softly, while he smiled.

"I already told you…anytime" she closed the door behind her with a smile on her face.

Ichigo leaned down on the bed, his eyes slowly shutting down when something heavy landed on him, startling him.

"Oi, Ichigo, have you seen Rukia, is she with you?" asked Renji, sitting on Ichigo's stomach. Ichigo threw Renji off him and off the bed in the process and sat up.

"She's taking a shower, you stupid baboon, and what are you doing here anyway?"

"Is it true she married the spirit king's son? What is going on Ichigo?" asked Renji lifting himself from the floor, and sitting beside Ichigo on the bed.

"Married to the spirit King's son? Who the fuck said that stupid shit?" asked Ichigo annoyed.

"Taichou told me he received a hell butterfly from the elders of his clan, telling him she was Kioshi Rukia now, is it true?" Ichigo snorted as he heard Byakuya's name.

"What would he know, he is nothing to Rukia now" he said bitterly "No, Renji, it is not true. She is Kioshi Rukia because she is the spirit king's daughter" stated Ichigo, hearing Renji gasp.

"D…Daughter….Rukia?" he asked much shocked, Ichigo sighed.

"I guess I'll have to tell you all about it now…" mumbled Ichigo tiredly.

"You better!" warned Renji, making himself comfortable.

An hour later Rukia entered Ichigo's room looking utterly adorable and relaxed, the long bath worked miracles on her tired body and soul. Upon entering she heard Renji's voice.

"I can't believe it Ichigo, are you sure it's Taichou you are talking about" he said.

"I saw them, Renji…we both did" replied Rukia from the door. Renji's hurtful eyes automatically flew to her, as he rose from the bed and walked to her, lifting her off the floor. With Rukia securely cradled in his arms he walked to the bed, Ichigo moved to the opposite side, making room for them and lay down, as did Rukia and Renji next to him. Then ley quietly for a while, Rukia sandwiched between her two friends, before Renji broke she silence.

"You've got to get a larger bed Ichigo" he commented, earning a chuckle from the younger man.

"I'll keep that in mind" mumbled Ichigo.

"Renji, if you want to remain friends with me…do not talk to Byakuya about me" stated Rukia coldly, making Renji shiver.

"But Rukia, there must be some kind of mistake, he'd never…"

"There's no mistake, Renji, we saw them, and he did…so promise me you'll never talk to him about me, ever again" the fierceness in her words made Renji swallow hard before answering.

"Okay Rukia, I promise…but I will get to the bottom of this, I still have a very strange feeling about all this, it's not like him at all" at this point she presses a finger over his lips.

"Do as you please, but never speak of me to him and never mention his name in my presence, understood?" he just nodded, sadly.

"Understood" he replied

"Good, now let's sleep, I am awfully tired" she turned around and wrapped her arms around Ichigo's waist, pressing her cheek on his back, he placed and arm over hers, caressing it slowly. She felt Renji's strong body pressed against her back, it made her smile; tomorrow she will have to face Byakuya and it would be extremely hard, but at that moment, surrounded by them she felt protected, secure and loved. Tomorrow she'll be ready, she thought...although she had to admit Renji did have a point, a strong one too, for it was nothing like Byakuya to do something like what she'd witnessed tonight...there was something off about the whole thing, but she could not think about it, not right now, it hurt too much; instead she took a deep, comforting breath and closed her eyes.

Okay so, just so you kow, I hated writing this chapter, but it had to be done. Do not worry, my wonderful ByaRuki lovers, this story HAS a happy ending, so...don't fall in desperation (lol)