It was a hundred degrees outside, a definite record for the summer. Ichigo wiped the sweat from his eyes and closed them hoping to keep cool. But it just wasn't working. He had one fan trained on himself. The fan blew hot air instead of cooling. Rukia walked out in a shirt that hung off of her shoulders by straps and a pair of skinny jeans, she also had on sandals. His breath caught. "What's wrong Strawberry?" she asked, turning off the fan.

"Do you mind Midget?" he growled, reaching over to turn it back on. It didn't work. Rukia pulled on the cord, and it went further down the table. "Come on!" He stomped his foot.

"What are you? A little kid?"

"In this heat, yes. Now give me the damn fan!" he growled, actually getting up to get it. But Rukia was quicker and she had the fan across the room by the time he had gotten to where she stood. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Alright," Ichigo said defeated, "what's going on?"

"I got a summer job." Rukia beamed from ear to ear. She enjoyed her job at the new ice cream shop downtown. She watched Ichigo's face, secretly because she thought he was handsome, but more for the fact of his reaction. It had been almost a month into the summer vacation and he still had to get a job. It seemed like his father took extra special care to beat him up even more in the mornings when he woke up at eleven. But his reaction was not worth it. His mouth didn't hang open as she thought it would. It was a little disappointing.

"Please go get dressed. I'm going to take you to my job. I have the day off and I get free stuff." Ichigo looked down at his clothes. He was dressed…in boxers with strawberries all over them. He went up to his room and dressed in cargo shorts and an open button up shirt with a gray tank top underneath.

Five minutes later, the two found themselves walking down the street. They turned a corner and she sighed contently. It was a nice day, not at all hot like he thought it was. Her violet eyes turned to him again and she blushed. She had a crush on him since she first saw him. His father knew she lived with them now and he moved her into his little sisters' room. His father even went and bought her a new wardrobe so she would have something to wear. She pulled at the dress she had on.

They had made it to her work. It was a small stand, a freezer attached to the umbrella. "You work here?" Ichigo asked, his eyes going wide. Rukia finally got the reaction she was looking for…or so she thought. He doubled over laughing, making a scene of it. The guy who was running it, Jim, glared at the orange haired boy. He waved excitedly at Rukia.

When the line had cleared, Jim made his way over to the two. He had sandy blonde hair and nice blue eyes. Rukia thought he was nice looking, but he definitely wasn't Ichigo. "Hey, Rukia, would you go on a date with me?"

Ichigo stood up straight and stared at the shorter boy in the eyes. "Just get our ice cream," he said in a low voice. Jim glared at him and took their order and got them the ice cream. Rukia waved good bye as Ichigo pulled on her arm and dragged her away. "What the hell Rukia?"

"What?"

"That guy is a creep. You work there?"

"Usually alone. Why are you so concerned? You didn't even want to go anywhere ten minutes ago."

"It's not that hot out and sides I wanted to see where you worked."

Rukia snorted out an unladylike laugh and almost dropped her cone. "What is so funny?"

"You are a contradiction my friend." She took a lick, making a path with her tongue.

Ichigo held his strawberry cone in front of him as if inspecting it. He ran a finger up it. The tip of his finger was coated in pink ice cream. His hand shot out and put the ice cream on her small nose.

Rukia stood there, her eyes wide. The ice cream dripped down her dress. "Ichigo!" she squealed.

He grinned like a Jack O' Lantern and bent down to look her in the eye. His tongue extended from his mouth and liked the ice cream from her nose. Her eyes were almost as big as the moon. Her mouth was in a perfect O. "You….I…what?" Rukia dropped her cone on the ground. She was too surprised to do anything about it.

His hand tipped underneath her chin and licked off the rest of the ice cream. His lips traveled to her lips and he kissed her softly. "This is quite the summer day," he mumbled.

"STRAWBERRY! You owe me a new ice cream cone!" Rukia yelled finally taking in the mess on the ground.