Author's Note: Whee-whoo. This is just a little something I whipped up for Ichigo's birthday, July 15, at 3:00 in the morning because I couldn't really to sleep and was bored. So it's probably not my best work since I was half-asleep. My basic storyline and ending are both pretty weak as well, so I apologize for this, 'cause it was really last-minute. I was all like, "Shit! It's already the seventeenth! Damn this to hell, I forgot all about it…" So yes, this is late as well, so I made the theme of this story generally belated.

July 15, 2008.

"Wake up, lazy son of mine!"

With a groan, Kurosaki Ichigo rolled over in his bed, jerking his pillow upwards to cover his ears, attempting to block out the sound of his father's shrieking and pounding on the door. Couldn't a kid get some sleep these days?

He glanced at the alarm clock by his bedside, blinking blearily as he stared at the digital numbers on the screen. It was about time to get up anyway, lest he be late for school and get scolded by Sensei.

As he rose, snatching the school uniform from the table that had been neatly folded the previous night, he was just finishing with getting dressed when the sound of splintering wood caught his attention.

Alarmed, the strawberry turned, only to receive a foot planted in his face a split second later as he was knocked unceremoniously to the ground.

"The hell was that for!?" he growled, feeling his nose to see if any parts of it were broken as he glared up at his triumphant father, Kurosaki Isshin, who seemed beyond pleased with himself at the success of his recent assault upon his only son.

"It's your birthday!" Isshin explained gleefully, "So I came up with this new attack just for you!"

With another infuriated growl, Ichigo shoved past his father to make his way to the kitchen where breakfast was being made. The old man was right, though. It was July 15. He had almost forgotten himself.

"Happy Birthday, Onii-chan!" Yuzu beamed, setting a bowl of rice in front of her older brother as he took a seat. "I'm going to make you a cake later today!"

"You don't have to," Ichigo muttered, shoveling rice into his mouth. He cleared the bowl in a few moments, setting it down on the table.

"I'm leaving," he announced as he made his way to the door.

"See you later, Ichi-nii," Karin called after him as he made his way out.

Presently, he arrived at school, ascending the front set of steps to reach his classroom. He had barely opened the door when a set of delighted shouts met his ears.

"Happy Birthday, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime squealed, rushing to greet the orange-haired teen.

"Ah, thanks," he answered, adding the same response to the other birthday greetings he received from other classmates.

"Oh, that's right!" Orihime continued, turning back to Ichigo, "Did Toshiro-kun say he was going to come see you or anything?"

Ichigo blinked, the image of his little white-haired lover drowning in administrative paperwork popping up into his mind. His face fell as the realization hit him, and he slowly shook his head.

"No," he answered quietly, "Toshiro told me a couple days ago there was no way he could come down to the real world with all the paperwork he has right now."

"Oh…" Orihime answered, her face falling as well upon seeing her classmate's disappointed expression. Maybe she really shouldn't have brought it up. "Well…I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun."

"It's alright," Ichigo sighed, "He probably has a lot of work to do. I can't bother him right now."

"It's not very considerate of him, though," Orihime added without thinking, "I mean, the two of you are dating, right? I really don't think he should prioritize his paperwork over you…"

She instantly regretted these words.

Wordlessly, Ichigo moved past her, sitting himself down in his seat as he gazed blankly out the window. Was he really that trivial in Hitsugaya's life? He hadn't really thought about it until Orihime had brought the subject up. Was the paperwork really more important than him? Did he really care more about his job than his own lover?

Ichigo furiously shook his head. "I can't be thinking like this," the teen told himself, "It's selfish of me. It's not like Toshiro can be with me whenever I want him to. I'm sure he's really busy with something really important. I can't get in his way."

With another sigh, he glumly moved his gaze back to the blackboard in the front as class began for the day.

When class ended that day, he made his way home slowly. There wasn't really a point in getting back so soon anyway. It wasn't like anything special was planned.

He took the long route around, Orihime's unintentional words ringing in his mind. Although the poor girl was unaware of it, they had deeply cut the unhappy strawberry's heart.

After a few minutes of mindless circling, he finally arrived home.

Grudgingly, he swung open the door. The inside was completely dark. Confused, he stepped inside, hissing in pain as he stubbed his toe. "Who the hell turned the lights off?" he muttered, removing his shoes and reaching for the light switch.

As soon as the lights came on, he was only slightly startled by the mixed voices shouting out to him.

"Surprise!"

Bewildered, the strawberry scanned the beaming faces, catching site of his father, his two sisters, Orihime, Ishida, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Tatsuki, Renji, Rukia, and Matsumoto…without her captain.

"Onii-chan, look!" Yuzu beamed, pointing at the table, "I finished making your cake!"

"I made a cake for you, too!" Orihime beamed, proudly holding up a vile-looking lump of red bean paste, chocolate, chicken noodle soup, strawberries, fish paste, and pastry.

Thanking everyone for coming, Ichigo found his gloomy mood lifting the slightest. However, he still couldn't deny the fact that although it was his birthday, and although everyone had come to see him and shower him with presents, he couldn't help but feel that something, more precisely, someone, was missing.

Soon, as the hours drew into the late night, his surprise guests began to trickle out the door to return home (or to Soul Society, in some cases) one by one.

Matsumoto was the last to leave.

"Taichou's sorry he couldn't make it," Matsumoto assured the still-depressed Ichigo, patting him on the back. "He's really busy and everything."

"I know," Ichigo muttered glumly.

"Well, don't feel bad," Matsumoto smiled, patting his head cheerfully. "See you around, Ichigo-kun." And then she disappeared out the door, leaving Ichigo there, even more miserable than he had been before. How could she expect him to not feel bad? He hadn't seen his favorite little captain in ages. In fact, come to think of it, the boy rarely came to visit him in the real world at all. Not for Christmas, not for New Year's. Hell, he was always the one who had to go up to Soul Society.

"I'm busy, Kurosaki," he'd always say.

"Busy my ass," Ichigo growled angrily, "Like that stupid kid can honestly be busy every minute, every day." Feeling frustrated, angry, bitterly disappointed, and let down by the diminutive taichou of the tenth division, he made his way upstairs to sleep, not having opened a single present or so much as touched a crumb of cake.

July 17, 2008.

In the dead of the night, Ichigo was wide awake while he should have been sleeping, staring unhappily up at the ceiling.

It was stupid and immature of him, he knew, but he was still thinking about the incident two days ago. His birthday had passed peacefully, but he still felt as if there was a piece missing.

The presents were still sitting untouched in his closet, and the unfinished birthday cake was still resting in the refrigerator.

"Stupid Toshiro," he said aloud to no one in particular, pounding his fist into his pillow with a frustrated huff of breath. "He's always busy…Too busy for me, anyway..."

"I'm sorry."

Blinking, Ichigo flipped himself around. The window had been open to let in cool air to help remedy the stifling heat of the Japanese summer, and in this open window stood a cloaked figure, who, although their face was covered by the cloak's hood, without a doubt, had heard what Ichigo had said.

"Toshiro?" Ichigo murmured, recognizing the voice.

The figure nodded as a pair of slender hands slipped out from under the cloak's material, reaching upwards to remove the hood that had been shrouding his face, revealing snow-colored hair, pale skin, and large aquamarine eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya spoke, stepping into the room, "I wanted to come. I really did, but the sotaichou refused to allow me to leave because of my unfinished work. I had to sneak out of the Seireitei to come here…But anyways, Happy Birthday…belated, I suppose."

The strawberry blinked, realizing why Hitsugaya had appeared in the dead of the night, his face and small body hidden beneath the cloak. He had to sneak here, and as such, he couldn't be seen, lest he be caught and be punished for disobeying the sotaichou.

"You look thinner," Ichigo commented, looking worriedly at him, catching sight of dark circles under the emerald eyes. "And you look like you haven't slept in a while, either…" He trailed off, feeling guilty. Hitsugaya obviously had been stressed out for the past few days, and coming here to see him only added to his burden. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Hitsugaya insisted. "I'm afraid I can't stay long, however, I'm quite sure that they already know I've left the Seireitei."

"Sorry," Ichigo answered guiltily, "You know, you really didn't have to…I mean, you were busy…"

"No," Hitsugaya answered firmly, "I did have to. I felt terrible for not making it on your birthday, but this is the best I can do. I'm sorry I'm late."

There was another pause.

"Toshiro…" Ichigo spoke finally, "Do you…Do you love me?"

Hitsugaya's face flushed a pretty pink. "O-Of course not, you idiot," he stammered, "I'm only dating you b-because I…you know…uh…Because I feel bad for you, honestly…I-I…"

"Oh, shut up," the strawberry answered, a grin spreading across his face as he practically pounced on his beloved little snow prince, capturing him in an embrace, shortly before their lips met in an unceremonious and clumsy kiss.

Hitsugaya jerked away, his face an even brighter shade of maroon now. Ichigo did this quite often; these surprise-attack kisses, but every single time, it would still cause him to blush.

There was a brief silence.

"Here," the young captain spoke, reaching into his robes and holding a small letter that had been folded and fastened with a thin ribbon out to Ichigo, "This is for you. As a present, you know…I heard it's the custom in the real world to give a person presents on their birthday…"

"Thanks," Ichigo said, blinking in confusion as he took the letter. "What is this…?"

"Read it for yourself, you idiot," Hitsugaya snapped. "If you'll excuse me now, Kurosaki, I must leave now."

Ichigo nodded briefly. "See you."

Then, as suddenly and quietly as he had appeared, the young captain disappeared through the window into the night of Karakura.

Staring quietly at the space where his late-night visitor had been just moments before, the curious orange-haired teen slowly turned the letter in his hands before tugging on the ribbon, letting the paper unfold.

What it contained was simple enough to understand.

Kurosaki, this is verification for you. I give you my word that whenever you want me to be there with you, this letter is your pass, sort of like what you humans would call a coupon or a voucher or something of the sort.

To confirm that he spoke the truth, the white-haired boy had signed his name on the bottom.

"I'm holding you accountable for this, Toshiro," Ichigo smirked to himself as he safely tucked the letter away into a drawer, "You'd better keep that promise of yours."