Ok, this is a very short story with the song Womanizer by Britney Spears in it. I did alter some of the song lyrics which makes the song fairly funny, but also reflects the Ichigo/Rukia relationship pretty well (I think) or could if it goes anywhere. (-) before and after a sentence means that the person is thinking.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

- thinking -
"speaking"

"Hi, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Today is my 21st birthday."

Life has been pretty boring the last few years, especially after the war with Aizen and then being drafted into helping with the restoration and protection of the Soul Society and cleaning up what was left of the arrancar.

Otherwise, things had been fairly peaceful. Somehow Ichigo and his friends all managed to graduate high school, though he still wondered how he ever got any homework done after Rukia crash landed into his life. He was going to be a senior in college this fall and he was excited to get through it and take some time off to enjoy life before deciding to go on to Graduate School or possibly fall into some career that he enjoyed. He was really hoping for the latter as he just didn't know what he would study if he had to go back. Either way he doubted any career could be as exciting or rewarding as being a Shinigami had been for him. After doing what he had been for the last six years, any other job seemed pretty insignificant.

Shortly after graduation, Ichigo had insisted on moving out, mainly because Yuzu and Karin were driving him nuts with their teenage hormones and mood swings plus his dad had seriously gone off the deep end the last few years. He only hoped his reputation would be enough to keep those hormone driven miscreants away from his sisters. Luckily, they all got accepted to a local University so he was able to move right into the school housing, which was nicer than dorms, but not quite like having your own apartment. One of the bonuses, or maybe it was a curse, was that they allowed co-ed housing. Somehow Ichigo ended up rooming with Rukia, while Uryu and Orihime became roommates. Chad decided to stay living at his place since it was fairly close to campus. Keigo and Mizuiro were terribly disappointed when they ended up roommates and wondered how Ichigo and Uryu were lucky enough to get to room with girls. Tatsuki roomed in the housing on the other side of campus. It was specifically for those with sports scholarships and she had received a full ride because of her karate.

Everything went fairly well with Ichigo and Rukia, having actually lived together in the same room for years, having separate rooms and bathrooms made things absolutely heavenly, though neither would admit that they had learned to enjoy their close quarters. They were like mini-apartments with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a small kitchen with a living room attached, with each floor having a laundry room. Ichigo still hadn't figured out how Rukia was allowed in the housing since she wasn't even going to college with them. He was sure that the Soul Society had something to do with it, but he decided it really wasn't important.

Needless to say Uryu and Orihime didn't have it so easy. Their main problem was simply having someone else around all the time. They had spent so much time living alone that having another person around so much was sometimes unsettling.

Ichigo yawned and stretched his body out in bed before sitting up with a yawn. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and then glared at the chappy clock on the wall. Somehow, his plain black clock had vanished and after it was found utterly destroyed outside under a bench, Rukia had just happened to have an extra clock that unfortunately looked just like chappy, complete with big googly eyes that moved and floppy ears that ticked along the seconds. He had seriously thought of 'accidentally' destroying it with Zangetsu, but he knew Rukia would never buy that as an excuse. Ichigo looked over at the calendar, noticing the big red circle around today with the number 21 in the middle of it.

Ichigo got out of bed and decided that a nice long shower would be a good way to start the day. He was secretly hoping that his friends would have some sort of party for his birthday this year. Hell, he was 21 and that was a birthday that only happens once, but he hoped that they didn't get him really drunk and leave him naked in someone's yard or worse someone's bed. Ichigo cringed at the thought of some of the girls that he knew would like to take him home and he knew no amount of scrubbing would get him clean after a night with one of them.

After Ichigo went into the bathroom, Rukia listened for the water to start before she went in Ichigo's room to start the events that would lead to a birthday that he would never forget. At least he better not forget it, after all, she was going to a lot of work and even though he was worth it he had better show some appreciation. First, she laid out the outfit that she had picked out for him. She knew he would look good in it and knew it would help her out later on. Then she placed a note on it that would lead him on a wild goose chase around town long enough that they could get things prepared without the chance of him sticking his nose into things.

The main thing was to keep him away from the club until it was time for the show, though she knew it would be tough since he worked there part-time as a bouncer and bartender; plus it was practically their second home. She knew he would be suspicious of something if he went there and noticed that none of the regulars were there. Even though it was mainly a night club there was still some daytime customers that were daily regulars. It wasn't hard to get Shinji, the club owner to go along with their plan but convincing the regulars not to mention it to Ichigo was a little more difficult, though after some persuasion from Chad, Rukia was sure things would go smoothly. As she stood there thinking about the things that still needed to be done she heard the water in the shower shut off. Before hurrying out of their apartment, Rukia scribbled something on Ichigo's calendar, and then smirked to herself, knowing the surprise that waited Ichigo at the end of his day. Little did he know that she was sending him on a day out to buy things for his own party. The plan of course was to make him think that no one remembered and then get him good at the club later; since he was scheduled to work she hoped the list was enough to keep him busy till then.

Ichigo emerged from the bathroom and though he thought he heard someone, he shook it off and went back to his room. To say that he was surprised that someone had been in his room was an understatement. At first he thought it was one of his crazed fan girls, but then he noticed the note that had Rukia's trademark chappy drawings on it. Sighing in relief as he had thought he made sure no one at work knew where he lived, he decided to humor her, simply because he was hoping that this would have something to do with his birthday but much to his dismay, it was a shopping list.

Hey Ichigo,

Shinji asked if you could pick up some stuff for the club and gave me the list for you. I knew you didn't have any plans today so if you could get everything before your shift starts that would be great. Oh, Orihime and I have some errands to run before tonight and the guys are helping Shinji move in some new equipment for the club, so you'll have to go by yourself.

Thanks, Rukia

P.S. Oh, Shinji also needs you to go by the distributor and get some beer and alcohol for the week. They have the order ready; you just need to pick it up.

List of items needed for the club
150 plastic cups
4 packages of multicolored streamers
1 camera for each table in the club- 24
5 packs of batteries
10 boxes of hot wings
8 cans of nuts
5 packages of toilet paper
3 packs of light bulbs
6 cartons of cigarettes
etc.

Ichigo sighed as he knew that this would take up most of his afternoon, especially picking up the alcohol. He would have to take the Tahoe to be able to pick the entire order up and take it in one trip as he knew multiple trips would waste even more time than he had to spare. He sighed again as he realized that lunch would have to be on the way across town to the mall to get this stuff, considering most of the smaller stores went out of business once the mall came. The distribution center was on the other side of town from the club so it would be an hour or more trip with just the driving. If he had known he would have so much to do, then he would have gotten up earlier or at least expected Rukia to wake him up.

Ichigo didn't really think twice before putting on the clothes laid out on his bed. Rukia tended to do that some days if she got bored, plus he decided that if she liked what he was wearing, it sure couldn't hurt anything. Rukia and he had danced around each other for years, but were either too stubborn, too clueless to the vibes they subconsciously gave each other or just too afraid to really act on anything. Even though they shared hugs and denied stolen kisses, always blaming the alcohol or a dare from some nameless 'friend' for their lack of restraint. Most people assumed they were 'together' though they never saw any actual proof, but most were too afraid to try anything with either of them for fear of retribution. They were always together and most of the time Ichigo had an arm around Rukia or she was dragging him around by the belt loops on his pants. It was easy to see how people got the wrong idea. Personally, though Ichigo didn't have a problem with people getting the wrong idea, as long as they didn't talk about it.

After getting dressed in his light blue under shirt with a yellow collared, button up shirt that had the large plaid in blue that he decidedly left open with a dark pair of blue jeans, he grabbed the list and pulled out of the parking lot. He didn't however, notice the newly drawn chappy on his calendar that now said 'gotcha'. He had to admit that Rukia had first-rate taste in what looked good on him, and he had to admit that he looked pretty damn good.

Ichigo decided to call Shinji and make sure Rukia remembered everything that was needed and to see if any of it really was. It wouldn't be the first time she had got the days mixed up and sent him for stuff when they didn't need it. Ichigo pulled out his phone and dialed Shinji's number and waited for him to answer.

"Hey, dick head! What the hell you calling for?" came a voice across the phone that Ichigo immediately recognized as Hiyori.

"Hey, what is a kid like you doing in a bar? Just give the phone to Shinji, I need to talk to him about the order." replied Ichigo with slight irritation.

"What's wrong with it dick head? Did you forget how to read or something? Do you need someone to draw you a picture? I'm sure Rukia would have obliged if you had just asked." came Hiyori's reply while Ichigo could hear laughing in the background.

"Hey Ichigo, what's up? Is there a problem with the order?" came the annoying voice of the club owner and long time friend Shinji over the phone.

"Oh... no. I just wanted to make sure everything was on it and that Rukia hadn't put the cart before the horse this time. I didn't think we would need any supplies till later in the week" Ichigo said with slight surprise in his voice.

"No, we really need all that stuff. I guess the orders from last week got messed up. Anyway, take your time and make sure you get everything. We'll see you later, ok man." Shinji replied rather quickly and hung up.

Ichigo looked at his phone and then shrugged it off, kinda surprised that they hadn't said anything about his birthday either. Being close to noon, Ichigo pulled into his favorite fast food place and placed an order. Then he spent the next hour waiting downtown during lunch hour traffic on his way to the mall, and as realization of the day hit, he cursed that today just had to be a Saturday so everything was worse then usual. He knew as soon as he arrived at the mall he would spend his time trying to find this stuff to buy, while the young high school girls followed him around talking about his hair or whatever it was they found so fascinating about him.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have enjoyed the story so far.

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: May 19, 2009

WORDS: 2214