(December 14-ish)

Once again, Happy Holidays to all! This is a special present for all you IchiRuki fans!

disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, fa la la la la, la la la la! What is with this song? I don't know, fa la la la la, la la la la! ...Okay. Done.

The Perfect Gift

"Hey."

Rukia looked away from the snowy night outside the window to see Ichigo walk into the room. She smiled gently. "So... how was your Christmas?" she asked.

He shrugged. "My family seemed to have a good day."

"Well, that's great and everything, but..." She adjusted her position on Ichigo's bed to face him. "I'm asking if you did."

"Yeah, I guess," he huffed. "Why'd you have to be so stubborn and stay up here all day? I mean you could've pretended to visit or something and stayed for at least a few minutes."

Rukia grinned slyly. "You mean you missed me?"

"I- I didn't say that!" Ichigo stuttered.

"You didn't have to."

"Shut up!"

She laughed to herself before turning back to the window. "Must be nice though."

He blinked. "What?"

"Spending Christmas with your family.... I never really got to because my brother was always busy, and I didn't have any other family to be with, so..." she trailed off.

"...So you were always alone on Christmas?" he finished.

Rukia shrugged. "It's not like it's the worst thing in the world."

"Yeah, but still..." The room was silent for a moment, then Ichigo remembered something and opened one of his desk drawers. "Oh, I almost forgot..." He took out a small box and held it up in front of her. "I.. got you something," he muttered.

She looked at the box, her eyes wide in surprise. "You... you got me a present?"

Ichigo looked away, his face slightly red. "Yeah, well... I saw it in a store and I thought you might like it."

Rukia slowly walked up to him and took the box. When she opened it, she tried to keep her jaw from dropping as she pulled out a necklace with a cute silver bunny charm. "Oh my gosh..."

"...You like it?" Ichigo asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I think it's the best gift I've ever gotten."

He rose an eyebrow, wondering if he'd heard her right. "Seriously? What, was Byakuya holdin' out on you? 'Cause he seems like the Grinch type--"

"I mean..." she cut him off, "I've gotten some really nice things in the past, but... this means a lot.... Thank you, Ichigo."

Again, he tried to fight the blush he felt rising to his face. He wanted to reply with some kind of obnoxious comeback, but --what with it being Christmas and all-- he felt like being sincere. Just this once. "You, uh... you want me to help you put it on?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Sure."

Ichigo took the necklace as she held back her hair. He gently fastened the clasp around her neck, and peered over her shoulder to see how it looked on her. He gave a slight smile. "Looks nice."

She smiled back. The two were then suddenly aware of just how close they were, and without another moment's hesitation and barely a thought, they kissed.

When they pulled back, they stared at each other, blushing. Then Rukia grinned again. "Well, I could be wrong."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Maybe the necklace wasn't the best gift I ever got."