Ichigo came home at around two with handful of grocery that Yuzu asked him to pick up earlier that day at the market. And now he was officially broke. Yuzu had asked him to buy too many things and the purchase he made yesterday at the mall wasn't helping his bank account either.
With a big sigh the man walked to his front door and opened it. "Tadaima."
"ICHIGOOO!"
"AH!"
As soon as Ichigo took a step in the house his father's feet slammed into him, sending him flying to the side.
"WHAT THE FUCK OLD MAN?" Ichigo cried out.
"You are getting rusty my son!" Isshin spoke with hands on his hips, "Haven't I told you to always keep your guard up!"
"Shut up!" Ichigo threw a right hook at Isshin and the two started their usual fight.
"Oniichan! Otousan!" Yuzu pouted by the door.
"Let them be Yuzu. They'll never change," Karin yawned as she walked towards the door and helped her twin carry in the bags Ichigo dropped.
"Ha! You are full of openings my son!" Isshin cried, "Allow papa to teach you—AHHHH!"
Ichigo, tired of their little fight, grabbed Isshin's collar and threw him across the room. Satisfied with his result (which was an unconscious Isshin twitching on the ground in the corner) he walked into the kitchen with the remaining bags.
"Where's Rukia?" he asked.
"I think she's in your room," Yuzu replied. She walked up to her brother and pulled him down to her level to whisper in his ear, "Now quickly take her outside and don't come back until after seven. I'll have everything ready by then."
Ichigo nodded and walked upstairs to follow his sister's instructions.
But wait a sec… since when did he allow himself to get pushed around by a ten year old?
Whatever, Ichigo told himself. There was no use arguing now when he was already in front of his room. "Oi, Rukia." He walked inside to see his friend lying on his bed reading one of Karin's manga…like usual.
"Okaeri," Rukia said nonchalantly, not even tearing her eyes away from the manga.
Ichigo grunted, annoyed with her welcome. "Com'on midget get up. We're going out for awhile."
Rukia only lifted her face but her gaze was still on the page she was reading. "Why? Where are we going?"
"Just come," Ichigo said as he stepped out of his room again. He waited for Rukia to follow but she wasn't moving. "Rukia!"
"Fine! I'm coming!" Rukia grunted. She walked back to the twins' room to grab her jacket and followed Ichigo downstairs. "Where are we going anyways?"
"I said just shut up and follow me," Ichigo replied. He walked by the kitchen where Yuzu was starting to prepare dinner, "We'll be back."
"Itterrashai!"
"Bye Yuzu, Karin!" Rukia called back as they walked out the door.
And like Ichigo told her, she just followed her orange-haired friend wherever they were going… but why are they walking for so long?
"Ichigo?"
"…"
"Ichigo?"
"…"
"ICHIGO?"
"WHAT MIDGET?"
Rukia quickly retorted by kicking his shin and Ichigo bit his lower lip to stop himself from screaming in pain. "We've been walking around for almost twenty minutes. I will not go another step forward unless you tell me where we're going."
"Bitch," Ichigo murmured under his breath. He released his hold on his bruised shin and straightened up. "Look, we're almost there so be patient a bit longer."
"No," she sternly replied back, crossing her arms across her chest.
Ichigo sighed as he looked at his watch. He still had to stall her for another four hours. He was about to say something when he turned around and saw Rukia walking back the way they came. "Rukia! Where are you going?" he shouted out to her.
"HOME!" she yelled back stubbornly, "I'm tired and I want nothing more than to—ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed in shock when Ichigo suddenly walked up to her and tossed her over his shoulder. "What are you doing? Put me down this instant!"
"Sorry but I'm not letting you go," Ichigo replied. He winced when he felt Rukia pounding his back with her fists.
"Let go of me Ichigo or else!"
Biting his lower lip, Ichigo kept walking while Rukia started kicking his chest. After some time Rukia's fussing died down and Ichigo walked peacefully to his destination.
"Ichigo."
"What now?" he sighed. He wasn't ready for more of her commotion because he already had enough bruises on his body now.
But instead of violently attacking her friend again, Rukia calmly asked, "How much longer?"
Ichigo smirked. "We're here."
"Wha—AH!"
Rukia yelped in surprise when Ichigo suddenly threw her off his shoulder. She expected to hit hard concrete but instead she landed on…sand? Rukia turned around and before her she saw the beautiful, blue bleach with the sun shining high above her.
Noticing her silence Ichigo decided to speak first. "I just thought it'd be nice if we had a break from all the work."
Rukia slowly stood up and smiled widely at her friend. "Well you should have told me."
Ichigo smirked as he grabbed her wrist and started to run towards the cold water. "Com'on!"
"Ichigo, wait!" Rukia shouted though she was still smiling.
The two spend hours playing at the beach. Shoes in hand, they splashed their feet into the winter ocean, running away whenever a big tide came in. Several times Ichigo would grab Rukia from behind, lifting her up in the air as if threatening to throw her into the water. Other times Rukia would jump into his arms whenever the cold water sent shocks throughout her body.
The two kept playing at the beach, pushing each other closer to the water, running away when it got too near, laughing at each other when the cold water touched them, and bickering about his name and her height. It was like any romantic movie…except for the fighting.
Before they knew it, four hours quickly went by.
Ichigo and Rukia were sitting in the sand, drying off their feet with the remaining heat from the setting sun. Ichigo looked down at his watch.
6:46pm.
It was almost time to go home, but since there was still some time left… "Rukia?"
"Yeah?"
Slowly Ichigo placed one of his hands over hers and gently interlaced their fingers. A blush spread across both their faces though they were still looking out into the horizon.
"Don't ever leave me," he shyly whispered.
Rukia snapped her head towards him but didn't say anything.
Sensing her movement, Ichigo lightly smiled as he faced her. "Meeting you has been the best thing to have ever happened to me since my mom died. So don't think for a second that I'd be happier without you."
The two kept staring at each other with their lips slightly tugged upwards. Rukia wanted to ask him more about what he meant and why he said it, but just by looking into his amber eyes she already knew the answer. It wasn't that he went to ask Renji or someone else about her talk with Yamamoto. But instead he easily figured it out and from the argument they had before arriving at Urahara's store yesterday.
Suddenly Ichiog's watch started beeping. Releasing his hold on her hand, Ichigo looked at his watch and pressed one of the side buttons to stop the annoying alarm.
"What is it?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo stood up and dusted off his pants. "It was just reminding me that it's time to go home." He extended his hand towards Rukia, "Let's go."
Rukia looked at his hand for a second and gently placed her hand on top of his as Ichigo helped her up. And despite the pleasure of touching each other, their hands slowly slipped away from each other's grasp.
"Come on midget," Ichigo smirked, though slightly blushing, "I don't want to carry you back home. You're a lot heavier than you look."
Rukia's blush was soon replaced by embarrassment. "Ichigo, you jerk!" She yelled as she chased after her friend.
After minutes of running here and there the two finally arrived at the front of the Kurosaki Clinic, breathless.
"Damn, hah, midget," Ichigo huffed as he leaned against the wall, "How can you run that fast in a gigai? I swear it looked like you used shunpo."
Rukia, who was leaning down with her hands on her knees, snorted. "Baka. You're just too slow."
Ichigo was about to retort when Rukia finally caught her breath and walked towards the door.
"Let's go in Ichigo," she called out.
Stuffing his hands inside his jacket, Ichigo followed. When he was standing right behind her Rukia opened the door to the dark house.
She flipped on the light.
"SURPRISSSEE!"
Rukia jumped back, bumping into Ichigo's chest. "What's going on?" she asked with 'shock' written all over her face.
Not only was Ichigo's family and Kon waiting for them, but the house was full of their friends. All the taichos of Gotei 13 (except Yamamoto, Mayuri and Komarmura), Renji, Orihime, Uryuu, Chad, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Keigo (WTF is he doing here?), Matsumoto, Hisagi, Yachiru, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hinamori, Hanataro, Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, and many more.
Renji walked up and ruffled Rukia's hair. "Baka. Did you seriously forget today was your birthday?"
The birthday woman blinked at her friend with disbelief.
Isshin suddenly popped up in front of her (followed by the sound of cracking knuckles from Ichigo). "Yes Rukia-chan! We all wanted to celebrate your happy day and dear Yuzu decided to plan this whole surprise party! Look! She even prepared all the food and decoration!" Isshin pointed to his blushing daughter.
Rukia gave a heartwarming smile as she drew Yuzu into an embrace. "Thank you Yuzu."
Yuzu quickly responded with a tighter hug. "Don't mention it, Rukia-neesan!"
Ichiog watched as Rukia soon made way around the room thanking everyone that was there. He felt a warm feeling spreading throughout his stomach as he watched her smile—a real smile—on her face.
"Makes you feel good, doesn't it?"
Ichigo turned to face his father standing next to him. "What do you mean?"
Isshin smiled and patted Ichigo's back, "Seeing Rukia-chan smiling like that. I swear I haven't seen something that beautiful since your mother left." With that he quickly ran up to Rukia, picking her up and giving her a big bear hug. Rukia first screamed in surprise but quickly hugged him back.
Ichigo looked intently at Rukia's smile and nodded to Isshin's comment. Seriously, he hasn't seen such a beautiful smile in a long time… though he'll never admit it.
The rest of the night everyone spend celebrating Rukia's (150th?) birthday. Keigo learning flirting tips from Sinsui, Mizuiro asking out some of the older ladies, Kenpachi starting fights in the backyard with the Fourth Division following him, Orihime mixing up food ingredients and feeding them to Tatsuki, Uryuu trying to fix up Kon with Chad silently watching, etc. etc.
But the real excitement came after dinner and after eating all of Yuzu's Chappy birthday cake (which annoyed Ichigo but got a squeal of joy from Rukia).
"It's time for presents!" Matsumoto yelled as she pushed Rukia to the living room where everyone had already gathered.
Rukia sat on the couch as Yuzu picked out one big present from a pile by the coffee table. "Open this one first."
Rukia nodded as she pulled off the lid of the box to see a violet kimono neatly folded.
"Hisana made it during her last year alive," Byakuya announced, "She had told me that she wanted to give it to you once she found you."
Orihime leaned over to look at the beautiful kimono. "But why are you giving it to her now, Kuchiki-taicho?"
Byakuya brushed his scarf as he spoke, "Because I thought one of the servants had accidentally thrown it away. It wasn't until last week I found it."
"Arigato, niisama," Rukia smiled at her brother who only nodded through his cold expression. Rukia looked back at the kimono and smiled. It was violet with black and white patters of sakuras—
Ichigo lightly tapped his finger against Rukia's back without anyone noticing. This pulled her out of her trance as she placed the kimono on the empty coffee table.
"What next?" she asked Yuzu.
The little sister pulled out another big present from the pile.
"Oh! This one is from me!" Matsumoto cried out as she walked over and sat on the empty seat next to Rukia.
Rukia smiled at her well-rounded friend as she opened the present… and immediately slammed the lid back on.
"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia shook her head rigorously, "Nothing," she hastily replied, but Ichigo noticed a blush. Before he could ask about it Rukia yanked Matsumoto so that their faces were leveled. "How could you have bought something like this?" Rukia whispered so nobody could hear her.
Matsumoto winked. "Because you're my good friend," she whispered back and quickly left the spot next to Rukia.
Before anyone else could ask, Isshin suddenly popped up from behind and handed Rukia a small box. "This is for my lovely third-daughter!"
Rukia let out a nervous laugh as she accepted the gift. "Arigato, Kurosaki-san."
"Tsk tsk," Isshin waved his index finger, "I thought I told you to call me 'papa.'"
"Shut up you old fart!" Ichigo yelled as he kicked Isshin away from him.
Rukia mouthed a small 'arigato' to Ichigo as she proceeded to open the small box… and slam it shut immediately, again. And this time Ichigo got a good glimpse of what was inside.
Both a bit flustered, they were frozen in their spot. Isshin suddenly popped right next to Ichigo again and threw his arm on his son's shoulder. "Haha! This present is not only for you, Rukia-chan, but also for my son—"
"That's it!" Ichigo yelled as he grabbed the arm on him and threw Isshin across the room, "You are not allowed to speak ever again!"
Isshin stood up and started the fake waterworks as he crawled over to Rukia. "My third-daughter, see how violent my son is? And I go all the way to get you two some condoms—"
"I said shut up!" Ichigo yelled louder as he landed a hard punch at his father.
"Oi! Ichigo!" Yoruichi called out with one hand cupped around her mouth and her other hand yanking the back collar of an escaping shopkeeper, "Urahara took part in the present!"
"Eh? Why did you rat me out Yoruichi?" Urahara whined behind his fan. He looked up and saw not Ichigo, but Byakuya standing before him.
"Chire—"
But before Byakuya could call out Senbonzakura, Urahara ran to the backyard with Byakuya following in tow.
And the night continued with Rukia opening presents. She got a lot of Chappy items (which Ichigo wasn't too happy about), and other items which she greatly appreciated. It wasn't until an hour before midnight that everyone decided to go home (or at least to Urahara's store for the shinigamis).
Rukia got out from the shower and closed the bathroom door. She was making way to the twin's room (where the girls were already asleep), but stopped when she noticed Ichigo's bedroom door slightly ajar. She peeked into the dark room and noticed the window open but nobody there.
"Ichigo?" she called out.
She entered the room and looked around. Kon could be heard snoring away inside the closet but nobody was occupying the bed. Rukia peered out of Ichigo's window and saw her friend's silhouette on the roof. With a questioning look she reached over to the edge and tried to pull herself up.
Ichigo was standing on his roof, looking out at his sleeping town when he heard rustling from below. He looked down and saw two small hands reaching up to grab the edge of the roof.
"AH!" he screamed in surprise as he fell on his butt.
"Shut up and help me!" Rukia's voice came from his window.
With his eyebrow raised, Ichigo crawled over to the edge and saw Rukia's face peering up at him. He smirked as he grabbed her hands and pulled her up. "What do you want midget?"
Rukia glared at him as she dusted off her clothes. "Baka, I just wanted to see where you were."
"Che," Ichigo snorted as he returned his gaze to the dark town.
Rukia stood next to him and welcomed the cool breeze blowing through her wet hair. Suddenly, she felt something cold hit her nose. Looking up she saw…snow? She let out a big smile as snow fell for the first time that winter.
"It's snowing," she whispered to no one in particular.
Ichigo looked up and shivered. "Man, its cold. I can't believe it's snowing so late this year."
Rukia shrugged as she stuck out her tongue to taste the falling snow.
Ichigo looked at his friend. Even though Rukia was smiling her wet hair made her shiver in the cold. He quickly pulled his jacket off and threw it on her face.
Rukia yelped in surprise.
"You looked cold," he simply stated with a shrug.
Rukia first glared at him, ready to kick his shin for having scared her, but decided against it. She slipped her arms through the sleeves and snuggled into the warmth. She then walked around the roof chasing after the snow. Ichigo watched her at first but then turned around and looked up at the moon.
When her hands started to feel numb from the cold, Rukia shoved them into the jacket pockets to warm them up… but her left hand collided with something inside.
"What's this?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo turned around and saw her pulling something out of his pocket. Remembering what he had in there, his face started to heat up so he looked away.
When no response came from Ichigo she looked at the black box and opened it. Inside was a necklace, a beautiful chain of white gold. But the small pendant in the middle was something else entirely.
It was a gem in form of a black sun that was partly covered by a white, diamond encrusted crescent moon on the side.
"What is this?" she asked again but this time breathlessly.
Taking a deep breath Ichigo walked over and carefully pulled out the necklace from the box. "I got this for your birthday but I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone."
"Why not?" she asked.
Ichigo shrugged. He then walked behind her and gently placed the necklace on her neck. Rukia blushed when she felt his hands behind her neck as he clipped the ends together.
"Happy birthday," he whispered as his hands fell down to his sides.
Rukia turned around and tip toed to give him a light peck on his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered back.
Ichigo's blush grew into a deeper shade of red. Coughing he looked away. "Whatever."
The two returned their gaze back to the sleeping town as it slowly got covered by a blanket of snow.
"By the way," Ichigo suddenly spoke, "What did Matsumoto give you?" He looked at Rukia who suddenly started to laugh. "What?"
"Nothing… I'll tell you about the present later," she replied.
A/N: And the info on the present will come out at least 3-4 chapters from now. but go read the next chapter which is suppose to be funny n lighten up ur day!
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