Disclaimer: I love bleach but I don't drink it. :3

Dang it! Had to rewrite half the story cuz a certain stupid person...me... forgot to save the ending! Sheesh! Well anyways sorry if some of the story didn't turn out that good! Hey big shout out to all who read and reviewed my last story! Thanks SOOO much, I feel so inspired! I'm…sniffle gonna try my best! And keep writin! JUST KEEP REVIEWIN'!

(By the way, 'Soapflakes' is just a creative word play combining something you use to clean like 'Bleach' and 'Soap' and flakes like 'snowflakes' and…okay u get it I know!!! Sheesh… and 'Miracle on uh…Ichigo's Street' means 'Miracle on 34th stree… ALRIGHT ALREADY! U totally get it but I just wanted to be absolutely sure…And WHY THE HECK ARE YOU STILL READING THIS?! The story is rite there!)


Soapflakes: Miracle on uh…Ichigo's Street

For once in Kon and Rukia's entire life, they actually agreed on something. Ichigo had totally lost it. It all occurred when Rukia returned to Ichigo's place after a long boring week of trying to get a conversation out of her brother in the Soul Society.

Upon returning, she found Ichigo in a bizarre state. Kon of course had flung himself in his Onee-san's arms as soon as he'd spotted her, crying with happiness, even though it'd only been a week. The stuffed toy admitted to his 'sis' that Ichigo has gone crazy while she was away, claiming Ichigo quote on quote "Brought a huge tree inside the house!" Rukia didn't believe the lion, dismissing his words that tended to be lies anyways, promptly threw him across the room to hide him when footsteps came, and calmly greeted the Kurosaki family when they came to welcome her back home from her journey. She dismissed it…that is, until she saw for herself just how strange her strawberry friend was acting.

She had climbed up the stairs that led to room #15, the room that belonged to a certain spiky-head whom she was about to give a friendly 'Hello, how've ya been' kick in the face to when she heard something that nearly made her faint…HUMMING! The sound of humming…coming from…him?! Rukia tip-toed up to his door and silently peeked through the door crack. There he was. Sitting cross-legged on the floor near his bed, with a box in his lap, was Ichigo. A familiar scowl resided on that face telling Rukia that nothing out of the ordinary was happening but…he was humming! And a rather peppy tune at that. The lithe woman smirked. Oh she was never gonna let this interesting find go to waste! By the end of this week EVERYONE was gonna know about this! But her amusement turned into puzzlement when she spied what he did next.

Still humming faintly, the boy gently placed the box on a extraordinarily large sheet of paper…and began covering the box with it! The teen then adhered the paper in place with the tape he held firmly in his large hands, he moved quickly and purposely along the edges of the box until it was covered in perfection. To complete the look, he placed what appeared to be a bow on the top. He smiled slightly as he shoved the random object under his bed, sighing now that he was finally finished with whatever he had just done. (how did it fit under there?!)WHAT THE HECK!?Rukia pondered horrified as Ichigo, oblivious to the witness, put his hands behind his head, and laying down on an unmade bed, he kept his eyes blissfully closed. Wide-eyed and worried, Rukia backed away from the door. What in the name of Soul Society was going on?! Kon was right! (amazingly) Ichigo had gone mental!

"Hmph! I always knew that guy was a nutcase." It seemed Kon had followed his beloved up the stairs."But I'm always there for you Onee-san! Unlike that good for nothin' strawberry freak! I never did like him!"

The door to room #15 flew open, a very annoyed spiky-haired individual threw what appeared to be a manga novel directly into the unsuspecting mod soul's face. "Shuddup, Kon! Why are y...oh...hey there Rukia." The boy had now spotted his violet-eyed friend standing there in the hallway with a look that said "You caught me red-handed". Kon meanwhile seemed to be stuck in between pages 22 and 23 of the latest Naruto shippuuden.(hehe)

"When'd you get back? And what's with that stupid look?" He wore the bored expression that was typical of the blonde substitute shinigami. Now that he was nearer to her than before, Rukia could see he was wearing a T-shirt that said the words 'Bah-humbug' in large block lettering. Must be a new music group or something. She thought. He also carried the fresh clean scent of a shower, his hair still a bit damp.

"Huh? Oh nothing! Nothing I saw absolutly nothing!" Rukia blurted, waving her hands rapidly as if pushing the thought that she had been spying away. She wanted to find out the cause of his actions herself. Time for some experiments. Ichigo sweat-dropped at her weird behavior. "Uh...okay, hello to you too."

Rukia's face now changed into a mischeivious smirk. "But I did hear you humming...how'd it go again?" His face reddened slightly and his scowl deepened, anger (but mostly embarressment) becoming more and more obvious. Almost time for the big bang! Rukia completed her taunt masterfully,"Hmm hmm hmm! Hmm hmm hmm! Hmm Hm Hm Hmm HmmMMM!!" (Jingle Bells) That did the trick.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!?" Nope. Now she darted into his room, lept up on his bed and was jumping on his mattress, humming all the way. Ichigo was in pursuit, grabbing a pillow for a weapon.

"TAKE THIS!!" He brought the overstuffed pillow down on her head with powerful force, but it seemed the enemy had put up her defence, currently taking the time to retaliate with another pillow. War was declared! Feathers went flying, the air whistling past flying pillows. Rukia quickly dispatched her opponent by punching him in the face and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Cheater." Ichigo muttered as he rubbed his head where he was hit. He sure acted fine just then...Rukia thought.

A yellow blur slammed unsuccessfully into Rukia. "Oh Onee-san!! Are you ok?! That idiot could have hurt you! First trees inside, stuff with boxes, and now th..." The toy didn't get to continue since Ichigo had plucked him off of the shinigami, holding him by his tail.

"Ah spying on me huh..." He looked over at a guilty faced Rukia. Her eyes were looking the other way, filled with guilt but otherwise the picture of innocence. He sighed... "Did you see your present?"

Her eyes now looked curious. "Presents? You got me a gift? Why?"

Releived that Rukia hadn't seen her present due to her reaction, the teen sighed again. "It's nearly Christmas baka."

"What did you call me?!"

"Look if you don't know what Christmas is than stop changing the subject so you don't look stupid!!"

"Hmmph." Rukia was beat on that one. She obviously wanted to know since this would explain Ichigo's actions...maybe.

"It's a holiday we celebrate...it symbolizes an important thing in religions and it's also the time spent with family and friends."

"And the gift?"

"You give people the gifts."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Well you sure didn't help me understand anything at all!"

Suddenly Kon yelled out, making the other two come back to earth.Ichigo forgot he was still holding the lion by the tail."EXCUSE ME BUT COULD YA PUT ME DOWN!? ALL THE BLOOD IS RUSHING TO MY HEAD!!"

He has blood? The two thought in unison as Ichigo threw a much abused Kon at the far wall, narrowly missing a framed picture of Shakespear.

Rukia turned back to Ichigo looking perplexed. "I thought you had gone crazy. With all the wierd stuff you were doing." Her eyes were opaque, absent mindedly playing with a loose pillow feather, sitting on the floor. "Especially the humming." A pillow came her way. She dodged it grinning.

"THAT WAS A CHRISTMAS TUNE!... Don't tell me you were worried, eh?" Ichigo smirked. The pillow had somehow returned to him, smaking him in the face. Rukia was relieved now that she knew that the behavior was explainable and therefor normal...by human standards. The strawberry-head sighed and reclined against his bed, thinking about the Christmas gifts he still had to purchace for the last few on his list. A sudden movement on his bed brought him back however.

"Hey! How many times do I have to tell you to get off my bed!?" Rukia sat there on the edge of his bed undisturbed, ignoring his question. Ichigo mumbled under his breath as he staggared out into the hallway, retrieving his forgotten Naruto shippuuden. He came back in seating himself at his desk, not at all comfortable with the girl sitting on his bed. Absentmindedly he flipped through the manga before looking up again. It was completly silent minus the whimpering coming from Kon. Glancing at the abnormally quiet Rukia, he caught the sense of bitterness coming off her thin body in waves. Her eyes looked tired.

"So..." Ichigo asked cautiously but with genuine interest."How did your week with your brother go?" Violet eyes turned away from the kind gesture.

"Let's just say that Byakuya-nii still isn't very comfortable around me yet." She replied softly."Even after all we've been through."

"Hmm..." Ichigo looked slightly sympathetic, but he knew she wouldn't accept sympathy from anybody so he kept his mouth shut.

"It was so very long and quiet." She continued, touched that her friend was worried about her problems."Just like every time I go stay with him..." The memories of the week came flooding back to her.


Flashback:

Cherry blossoms floated lazily on an invisible wind, the long delicate branches swaying rythmically. Rukia sat leaning against the tree hugging knees to her chest, letting the invisible sun warm and carress her cheek, following the petals as they made their almost beautiful journey to the earth. She was in the garden of the Kuchiki mansion. It seemed that no matter where she went here in the mansion, time always seemed to stand still. Nothing ever changed, days would go by, but one could never tell. The silence their was deafening. A few times Rukia almost screamed in order to fill the leaden quiet, but ended up holding her tounge. Byakuya-nii would always carry out the same routine: walk into the study after his captains' duties and read undisturbed before heading to his bedchamber. (gettin fancy with the words! O snap!) Every once in a while he would look up from his book, looked like he was about to say something, then lowered his gaze back to his book. If she didn't know any better, Rukia would have thought that Byakuya-nii was awkward and unsure what to say. Shy even!


A finger poked her in the head, startling her from the past and into the present. Ichigo was giving her a mischievious look.

"Get off my bed baka!"

Rukia kicked him in the shins making him retreat. "What if I don't feel like it!?" She shot back.

"Whatever! Look I need to go help Yuzu finish decorating the tree." The girl was shocked by his declaration.

"WHAT?! So Kon was right?!" She cried disgusted by the thought. "You did bring a tree into the house?! Why on earth would you do that?!"

"It's just another tradition! Don't act like I'm crazy! Geez!" He started toward the door.

"I don't get it..." She sighed.

"Yeah well I don't think you would be able to understand anyways."

"HEY! And just what are you implying?! Ichigo?!" But he was already out in the hallway, making a mad dash for the stairs. Unfortunatly, it seemed his dad decided that now was the perfect time to attack his beloved son.

"Ichigo my son! It is time for some Christmas-time spirit! You don't wanna be a grinch now do you? Give your daddy a kiss..."

"You moron!! All your getting for Christmas is a kick in the face!!" He emphasized his point by sending his father down the stairs with several loud thuds. Unknown to Rukia since she had just started to come out of Ichigo's room, was an unplesent surprise.

"Hey Ichigo why are you wearing those strange green plants all over you? Are those little red berries on them too?"

Ichigo could only stare, a horrified look on his face. "W-wait R-rukia!! Don't come near!!"

"Why the heck are you staring at me like that!? Hmm?!" She demanded, oblivious to his increasing embarrasment. He tried desparetly to pull the plants off, but to no avail...his dad seemed to have super glued them to his shirt. "I'll go where I what to baka!"

"S-STAY A-AWAY!!" He tried to run away down the stairs, only to find his father blocking the only way of escaping. "CRAP!! WHAT KIND OF FATHER ARE YOU?! AND YOU RUINED MY NEW SHIRT!!" His father only smiled evilly."Don't you love mistletoe, Ichigo? You'll break my heart if you don't!"

"G-GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Ichigo! What is going on?! You're acting like I'm a contagious disease or something!"

Ichigo felt like a rabbit caught in a trap. He gulped. The hunter his father, Rukia the innocent trap. "EEEEEEEEEE..." He backed into the corner, helpless.

"HAHAAH! My son must suscumb to the most treasured and memorible of all holiday traditions!" They were both next to him now.

Lukily Ichigo had his shinigami badge in his pocket. Quickly he got out of his body and ran like there was no tomarrow, dragging his body with him. "Phew! That was a close call."

"Ah I must admit my son has his wits! He must have inherited them from me." Ichigo had disappeared by now, cursing at his evil father all the way. Rukia followed suit, yelling at him for being so weird and why was he running away from her. Isshin already had a backup plan formulated in his head though. It was going to be a long Christmas break...for Ichigo anyways.


HAHA! LOL! ;) If its not Keigo its his dad! Poor Ichi! Me so evil! Yeah so sorry that this story took so long, but I had finished my story and forgot to save so I had to start over...UGH! What a pain! Hope everyone had a Merryhappyfeliznavidadchristmashanukakuanzaholiday! I know I sure did! Got awesome game Bleach Blade of Fate for the DS!! Sadly its muy short so I finished it already...BUT ITS STILL ROX! Special thanks to angelic93, Alice001, and clay445, awesome authors and motivators!