Hello everyone, it's me, Just shipping. So RukiYuki told me that this month is IchiRuki month and I wanted to participate with it. I will also update Happiness this month, but these are my stories based on the prompts.

It will not be possible for me to update a story every day, but I will try to do what I can. Hope you guys like it and please bear with my grammar as English is not my native language.

Author's note: Unfortunately I do not own Bleach

Prompt: Coffee shop

Coffee shop

Yawning, Kurosaki Ichigo looked around for a coffee shop. He was damn tired. First of all, he had a full day shift at his father's clinic. Afterwards, his father forced him to visit his godfather because he kept whining about the fact that his godson never came to visit him. Unfortunately, he could not leave their place in two hours, or he would get his ears pulled by his ''lovely'' godmother. On top of that, he had no time to rest anymore, his next shift would start in two hours. Right now, he was craving for a hot cup of coffee, which he knew he would have to buy at a coffee shop, as he would not be able to be back home in time. But as he was unfamiliar with this neighborhood, he looked around for a coffee shop. After a few blocks, he noticed a coffee shop, but he had to frown at the name. There written in big neon letters stood WANNA COME IN and in the back was written in small letters for a cup of coffee?

What the hell?; he thought by himself. But this was the first place that he saw where he would get some coffee and he knew that he was in dear need of it. Looking around, he saw that there wasn't any other coffee shop. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and decided to try this shop, even if it had a weird name. How bad could it be?

Entering the coffee shop, he noticed that there was not much of a rush, which wasn't odd as it was right now after midnight. Waiting in line, he read the menu, which was written on a big blackboard and right after he had made up his mind, the barista asked him for his order.

Looking at the barista, his eyes widened a bit. She was short, with black hair and pale skin. But what took his breath away, were her eyes. They had an odd color. It looked amethyst, but it also looked blue. Are there any more people who have this kind of eye color?, he thought by himself.

Seeing how the barista frowned at him, he came back to reality and gave his order.

''May I have a surprise coffee?''

''Are you sure?''; she frowned at him.

This made Ichigo raise an eyebrow; ''Yeah, why?''

She looked around and seeing that there weren't any customers behind him, she whispered ''Let's say that not any sane person likes the surprise coffee.'' When she saw his eyebrow going further, she continued ''Actually, not any coffee here is drinkable, the only two things our customers come back for, are our desserts, my boss Rangiku and my colleague Inoue.''

Ichigo smirked ''You work here, but you are giving me the advice not to drink here anything?''

She shrugged her shoulders ''Take it as a friendly advice. This must be the first time that you're here and I think that it is for the best to advice you for what you must have, before you are cursing me and this coffee shop.''

Seeing that he wasn't budging, she shrugged again ''Fine, I have warned you. But if you do not want to listen to me, then fine. On whose name can I take this order and is it a to-go or to drink here?''

''To-go and the name is Ichigo''

Seeing her smirk, he winced. ''Strawberry, huh? Interesting name.''

''Shut up, midget, it's not strawberry. It means one who protects.''

The midget comment had earned him a glare ''Sure, whatever you say.'' And before he could say anything else, she continued ''Now move please, there are other people waiting for their turn.'' Turning around he saw that she was right and that her attention was to the other customers. He moved forward and after a while his name was called. He took his cup and actually wanted to taste it in front of her, but seeing how she was still busy with her work, he decided not to and walked outside. Walking outside in the snow, he craved for his coffee and took a sip as he was also curious about the coffee, that apparently must have been that horrible, that even the employee warned him against it.

Taking a sip, he spits it immediately out. ''BLEH! That's horrible, she was right.'', he muttered. He wanted to wash his mouth, but seeing that nothing was in the neighborhood, he hurried towards his car to get to his father's clinic, wash his mouth and get a cup of coffee there. This was my first and last time to take a coffee of that coffee shop, he decided.

1 week later…

Unbelievable, he thought by himself. He found himself again in the coffee shop with the weird name. He really didn't know what made him visit this coffee shop again. A little voice inside him told him that he was lying and that he knew why he had returned. It was that barista, that petit one. After meeting her, he could not get her out of his head. She was interesting and being fed up with his thoughts, he decided to visit the coffee shop again. Also, to try the coffee here again. Sure, she had warned him, but the next day he remembered how she had glared at him when he had called her a midget. Who knows, maybe she had put something horrible in it. Waiting in line, he saw that this time there were more employees working with the same barista of the last time. At first, she had not noticed him, but when it was his turn, her eyes grew wide open in shock.

''You?''

He gave her a smile ''Hi''

''You came back? Are you serious? Or did you come for anything else than coffee?''

But before he could answer her, they were interrupted by a woman that had strawberry blonde hair and some big ''assets''. The woman threw a arm around the barista's shoulder.

''Aaahw, Rukia-chan. Do we have gotten a new customer?'' And then she turned her attention to him ''Hello, good sir. Welcome to 'Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee. My name is Rangiku and I'm the owner here. Is this your first time?''

He shook his head ''No, actually I have been here once before. But I wanted to get a cup of coffee again.'' Seeing how the barista, whose name was apparently Rukia, looked at him in shock, he continued ''And I also would like a castella, please?''

The woman nodded at him and nudged Rukia to continue her work. Rukia shook her head when Rangiku walked away. ''Your taste buds must be really messed up.''

''Maybe, or maybe they are just fine.''

She smirked ''If they were fine, then you wouldn't come back here.''

''Why not?''

This made her frown ''Do I really have to spell it for you? I told you the last time that our coffee is terrible.''

''Maybe, or maybe you put something in it to make it taste terrible.''

''And why would I have done that?''

''Because I remember your glare from the last time.''

She had to think for a minute and then smirked at him ''That's good that you have remembered my glare, if I wasn't working then, then I would have hit you in the face. But trust me, I wouldn't do anything to your coffee, it already tastes terrible.''

Before Ichigo could answer her, they were being interrupted by Rangiku who told them to hurry as the line was getting longer and longer. When Rukia gestured to him to walk further, he frowned ''Don't I have to tell my name?''

She smirked ''Trust me, your name isn't possible to forget.''

He raised an eyebrow at that comment but moved forward. When he received his order, he mumbled that she really had not forgotten his name. He saw that she had drawn a little strawberry, instead of writing his name. That evil midget, he thought by himself.

2 weeks later…

It was official, Kurosaki Ichigo was an idiot. Two weeks ago, he had visited the coffee shop with that horrible coffee and two weeks later, he still visited the coffee shop. He had made quite some visits to the coffee shop. Every day he would go there and when he saw her inside, he would enter the coffee shop, take that horrible disgusting coffee and a dessert, which did not taste that horrible as imagined. If he did not see her from outside, then he would leave again. He had to curse at himself. He would go there for that short barista, every time they would bicker and that was his highlight of the day as he enjoyed that. But he had made no progress with her, the only thing that he knew about her, was that her name was Rukia, that she was 22-years and that she worked here because of her friendship with the boss, Rangiku-san.

Flashback…

Looking up at the next customer, Rukia frowned when she saw that orange-haired customer again.

''Back again, I see.''

''Well, what can I say. You guys sell some interesting coffee.''

This earned him a smile. ''You could say that.''

''Speaking of which, may I ask you a question?''

''You just did.''

This made him roll his eyes, but he continued. ''You obviously dislike the coffee here and warned me about it, but why do you work here then?''

She smirked ''You are quite observant, Strawberry. But…'' she said while giving him a sigh; ''I guess that I will humor you. You remember my boss, Rangiku?''

He nodded and she continued ''Well, actually she is a dear friend of mine. She always wanted to own a coffee shop and she succeeded in it. Then she asked me and Inoue to work for her and…''

''You couldn't say no?''; he asked smirking.

She nodded ''Yes, after a long talk with my nii-sama we came to the conclusion that I could work here. But I did not know that the coffee here would be horrible'' Then she whispered ''That's why I do not want my nii-sama to taste the coffee from here, or else I will have to quit from here.''

But before he could reply, they were interrupted by the rush of customers that just entered the coffee shop.

End flashback

So he knew a bit about her, but not that much. In her eyes, he was weird to drink a cup of coffee that he even did not like. He sighed.

''Oye Ichigo, are we going to keep standing here, or are we going to enter this coffee shop?'', his godmother asked him. Ichigo turned back to reality when he heard her question. That's right, he ran into his godparents when he was walking towards the coffee shop. They were suspicious of him being here, as he could not convince them that he was on his way to their place as they knew that he had to be forced to go at their place. Also, his godmother knew it when someone lied, so she had made him spill to them that he came to drink a cup of coffee and they had invited themselves to company him. Entering the coffee shop, he heard them discuss what they wanted to order and he decided against warning them for the horrible taste.

When it was their turn, Rukia gave him a smile ''Ah strawberry, fancy seeing you again. What may it be today?''

''A cup of coffee and some yokan, please?''

And before he could walk further, he felt a hand on his shoulder forcing him to keep still ''Hold it, Ichigo. You took us here, so you will have to treat us here, isn't that right, Kisuke?'', he heard his godmother ask.

''Why yes, Yoruichi, that would be proper. Who knew that our godson is such a delinquent?''

''You invited yourselves, I didn't.'', Ichigo muttered. Looking forward, he blushed when he saw Rukia smiling at the scene.

Yoruichi smirked seeing her godson's behavior and had a suspicion why he came near their neighborhood. Looking at her husband, she saw him smiling. This meant that he also had realized why Ichigo was here. The couple smirked at each other and decided to take advantage of the situation.

Yoruichi looked at the barista ''Isn't that mean, dear? Apparently, my godson regularly comes here, but he does not want to give us any advice of what to order or treat us. What do you think of it, dear?''

Rukia smirked at Ichigo, ''Why yes, that is mean of him. I would say that as him being your godson, he will have to treat you.''

Yoruichi smirked and decided that she likes this girl, she has some spunk in her. ''So, what would you recommend me and my husband to order?''

Rukia decided to help the couple out ''Honestly,'' and once again she looked around to see if anyone was around ''I would not recommend you to take any drink from here, but the desserts are to die for.''

Yoruichi frowned, ''Why would you not recommend any drink?''

Rukia coughed ''Let's say, my boss and colleague have an interesting taste which not any person does like, only they like it and your godson.'' Now, Ichigo was turning red, sensing the smirks of his godparents.

''Really,'' Uruhara asked, ''that godson of us does have an interesting taste, isn't that right, Yoruichi?''

If it was possible, Ichigo turned more red, understanding the double meaning of his godfather's question. Rukia didn't get it and smiled at the couple ''So what would you like to order?''

Yoruichi smiled at the girl and decided to taste the coffee from here, it could not be that horrible, right? But she would also take higashi to share with her husband. Before walking further, Yoruichi asked for Rukia's name and told her that she was glad to meet her, while giving a smirk to her grandson. Rukia was obvious to it and told her to come back again.

When they had received their order, Ichigo was anticipating the moment his godmother would take a sip. His godmother was a sharp woman, who immediately would figure the situation out and heaven forbid it, she would tell his father about it. He did not want that crazy old man to embarrass him and scare Rukia.

Yoruichi winced when she took a sip and glared at her godson. ''There is no doubt, you like her.''

''No, I don't''

His godfather hit his head ''Do not lie to your godmother.'' This made Ichigo glare at his godfather.

''I'm not lying.''

''That's crap, Ichigo. Your father told us that lately you would go out every day and seeing your interaction with that cute barista, I will have to guess that you will come here then. Plus, you drinking this horrible coffee every day, is quite obvious.''

Ichigo sighed and decided to stay quiet while they were enjoying their desserts. Before walking away, Yoruichi told him to ask Rukia out for a date, or else she would do that for him, before telling his father about it.

Ichigo laid his head down on the table in embarrassment and stayed like that for a while. When he heard something being placed on his table, he looked up and saw a new plate of yokan.

''Here, Strawberry. You looked quite sad, so cheer up.'' Rukia said while giving him a smile.

''I'm not sad'', he mumbled.

''Fine, not sad. But still, cheer up, Strawberry.'' And she wanted to walk away, but he stopped her.

''Wait, let me pay.''

She shook her head, ''That's not necessary, it's on the house'', she said while giving him a wink, before walking away. Luckily, she had turned around before she saw his idiotic smile, which he couldn't stop from showing up on his face.

A week after that…

Rukia sighed, while cleaning the counter. Right now, there were no new customers to take orders from, so she decided to clean the counter. Suddenly, she felt an arm around her shoulder and she immediately knew who it was.

''Yes, Rangiku?''

''Say, that handsome orange haired is here again.''

''I know; I took his order.''

Rangiku turned around and called Orihime, who walked towards them.

''Yes, Rangiku-san?''

''Orihime, would you tell Rukia what the two of us have talked about? Remember, about that orange haired man?''

Inoue nodded and turned towards Rukia ''Yes Rukia-san, I told Rangiku-san that he must really like you.''

Rukia sputtered ''What, that's not true. Why would you say that?''

Rangiku smirked ''Oh honey, he comes here every time you work here and smiles when he has talked to you. Whenever he enters here, he scowls, but after talking to you, he smiles. Do not tell me that you have not noticed that?''

Rukia shook her head ''What?! No, you guys are wrong! He comes here for the coffee and deserts, that's all.''

Inoue shook her head firmly ''He grimaces every time he takes a sip of the coffee, so I do not think that he likes the coffee. And I have seen him standing here outside a few times, but then he walks away when he does not see you here inside. But when he sees you, he immediately enters the coffee shop.''

''And don't think that we haven't noticed you enjoying his company, Rukia!'' Rangiku told her.

This was too much for Rukia. Sure, she thought that Ichigo was attractive and she likes their bickering, but it was hard to believe for her that he would come for someone like her, she was not anything special.

Rangiku and Inoue sighed. ''You must realize that you are more than you think'', Rangiku told her and Inoue nodded.

Rukia shook her head firmly. ''You guys are wrong. He does not come her for me!''

''That's it!'' Rangiku said. And she took a plate with higashi, placed it in Rukia's hands and ushered her to walk towards Ichigo.

''W-w-what are you doing?'' Rukia sputtered.

''Well, you are telling us that we are wrong and we think that you are wrong with your theory why orange-haired comes here. So, there is one solution: go and ask him!''

Rukia frowned ''W-w-what?''

Inoue nodded firmly ''Rangiku-san it right, Rukia-san. Go and do it. And if we are wrong, then we are wrong.''

''And what if I'm wrong?''

Rangiku laughed ''As if you would mind that!'' and she pushed Rukia towards Ichigo's table.

Ichigo was frowning at himself. There still was no progress and he did not know how to ask Rukia out for a date. Wasn't he obvious?

Just then he heard a plate being put on his table and he looked up. There in front of him stood Rukia and her cheeks were a bit red.

''Why do you come here regularly?'' she muttered, while looking away.

Ichigo did not hear her clearly ''What did you say?''

Rukia turned her gaze towards him ''Why do you come here regularly?''

Ichigo smirked, maybe this could help him ''Why do you think?''

She sighed, while sitting down at his table ''Well, I think that you come here because you have weird taste buds.''

He laughed at her answer ''If you think that, then why did you come to ask me why I come here regularly?''

Again, she looked away ''Inoue and Rangiku think that you come here because you like me and made me ask you for your reason''

Now he smirked at her ''And you don't believe them, because…?''

''Because they are always wrong with their theories''

He cleared his throat ''Maybe always, but not with this one.''

She turned her gaze at him in shock and saw how he was blushing.

''You mean, t-that you l-l-like me?''

''Of course I do. Why else do you think I come here regularly to drink this nasty coffee?''

''I-I don't know. Like I said, I thought you had some weird taste buds. But apparently not.''

''But do you?''

''Do I, what? Have weird taste buds? No, I do not''

He sighed and smiled at her naivety ''No, I did not mean that. I know that your taste buds are not wrong, or else you would have not warned me the first time I came here. I meant if you like me too?'', at the end of the sentence, he turned red again, because of the blushing.

She giggled at his blushing and nodded.

This made Ichigo give out a happy sigh and he looked at her hopeful. ''Would you like to go out on a date with me?''

She pretended to think about it and then gave him a serious look ''On one condition?''

''What would that be?''

''That you will treat me some good coffee.''

Ichigo laughed at her answer and nodded. That's a deal, by the way, could you tell me why the coffee here is that horrible?''

She shook her head ''Trust me, for your own sake, it is better that you do not know.''

He silently agreed with her and the rest of the night the two of them sat on the table while enjoying their dessert and sharing their likes and dislikes.

So, this was my first contribution to IchiRuki month. I hope you guys liked it. Please, leave a review and I will try to participate with the other prompts, also. Also, I just made a tumblr account, but I'm figuring out how it works. Could you guys give me some advice about it?