A/N: My first ever fanfic. O_O It's kinda rough and a little bit of an experiment. I first though of the idea for this when I thought "I would love to dance to this song at a wedding or something..."

Vanilla Twilight

Chapter 1: Menos, Memories, and Misery

January 7th – Ichigo and Rukia were trudging through the 8 inch deep snow coming home from school from. Snow was falling at a rate of at least an inch and a half every hour and the winds were so strong it was like it was snowing sideways. The warm fire and hot chocolate waiting for them in the Kurosaki Clinic seemed so far away that it was virtually unreachable. And to make their problems even worse, they were both in horrible moods.

Menos Grande had been showing up on after another and that could only mean that much more work for Ichigo. Sure, they were pretty easy to deal with considering he had defeated some of the strongest Espadas in Hueco Mundo, but after about seven Menos Grande attacks in twenty-four hours, it can get a bit tiring. Not to mention having to make up excuses for not turning in homework assignments completed. He figured the excuse of fighting evil spirits to protect the human race wouldn't fly that well with sensei.

As for Rukia, she had recently heard about some strange new decisions being made in the Soul Society. It was a bit different from their normal antics and it seemed to involve the noble families. Considering she was a Kuchiki, she couldn't help but be curious. She always had to know what was going on and she hated not being informed. She was always very persistent on getting the answers that she wanted, especially if it concerned herself.

It was then that Rukia's soul pager had gone off once again. It was like waking up to an alarm clock with a hangover to both of them. They were really lucky that tomorrow was Saturday.

"Are you friggin' kidding me?! Is there seriously ANOTHER one?! Ichigo screamed, annoyed as could be.

"We don't really have much of a choice. Besides, it's close by. Let's just get rid of it so we can go home," Rukia said trying to be at least somewhat positive.

"Fine…" Ichigo muttered under his visible breath.

Ichigo pulled out his substitute soul reaper badge and within seconds was after the hollow. Rukia quickly followed, dragging his lifeless body along the cold ground.

He was running too far ahead for Rukia to catch up to him. It had been too long since she replenished her gigai with energy, which slowed her down tremendously.

"Damn… this gigai really is useless!" She screamed. She tried to go as fast as possible but after a while she decided not to strain herself. She figured it would be all right if she let Ichigo do his business and he'd make his way back.

RAWRRRRRRRR!!!!!

A few minutes later, she heard a scream of pain in the distance as a sign that the hollow had been killed. Ichigo was getting stronger and stronger each day up to the point where he could defeat a Menos with only a few blows, usually without a scratch on himself. She was very proud of him in so many ways. "He sure as grown, hasn't he?" She asked herself with a wide grin on her face.

Suddenly, she heard the door of the Senkaimon open behind her. She was afraid, but nonetheless she slowly turned around to find a familiar face stepping out of the Senkaimon. What could he possibly want with me now? Rukia thought to herself, half annoyed and half frightened.

Ichigo was making his way back towards Rukia, slowly but surely. "Man, do I really have to waste my time on hollows like those?" He complained to himself out loud. As he walked on the freshly fallen white snow, he thought about what he was supposed to do about next Friday; January 14th, Rukia's birthday. It was the first time they celebrated one of their birthdays together and he had no idea what to do or what to expect. "What does the Soul Society do for birthdays anyway? Do they do anything special? Nah, they probably don't. `Should probably ask Renji later."

More than anything, he wanted it to be special. After all, she deserved a nice birthday. He doubted she got any special treatment from Byakuya. In fact, he was probably the last person to give her any special acknowledgement. If it were anyone, it would most likely be Renji, considering they were supposed "best friends".

Just the mere sound of that ticked him off. How could that jerk be "best friends" with a person he captured?! He betrayed her! It may've been a while ago and he apologized and all but that wouldn't really matter to me if my best friend almost got me killed!! Before he knew it, Ichigo's cheeks were as red as strawberries (intended pun) because of his loss of breath due to his continuous ranting. He seemed to be walking faster and faster, stomping harder and harder. Why on Earth is this getting me so angry?! They're only friends! I'm special to Rukia, too, aren't I? But why is it that I want to be so special…?

All of a sudden, he felt an extremely powerful amount of spiritual pressure and he knew exactly whose it was. He didn't know what he desired this time, but whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. Seriously?! Why does it have to be now? And with that, Ichigo sprinted off towards Rukia. This would only make his pissy attitude even better.

"Is something the matter, big brother?" Rukia asked Byakuya curiously.

"In a way, yes. I would like to talk to you… about your birthday."

A/N: I wanted to get past 1000 words but that didn't happen. Kinda short and it was probably easy to tell that it was Byakuya behind Rukia =__= Who else would it be, anyway? Anyways, please tell me what you think! =^^= Not much IchiRuki YET but there will be later on I promise! ;]