Disclaimer: If you look up who owns 'Bleach' your be pleasantly surprised that its not me.
The Gift
The sun was setting and all of Karakura was being bathed in a golden light. It had been peaceful for the past few days and all of the residents were thankful. It was also relativity quite until a current orange haired Soul Reaper broke the silence
"I don't want a party!" Ichigo shouted as he walked down the sidewalk.
"Why not!" Rukia shouted back although she did try to make her voice a little softer then his. People were starting to stare after all. "Even people in the Soul Society have a party on their birthday."
"I already told you. Every year Yuzu, Karin, and my Dad give me a small gift and then we have a cake. That's pretty much all we've done for the past couple of years and that's all I want this year. Except this time you'll be there of course." Ichigo tried to explain.
"But what about all of your other friends? Don't you think they want to through you a party? Urahara already said we could have one at his place." Rukia told him with some of the venom coming out of her voice.
Ichigo's expression softened.
"I'm sorry Rukia. I know that you're just trying to do something nice for me and I really appreciate it, but I've never liked making a big deal out of my birthday." He almost whispered to her.
She looked up at him with a sad expression and he felt like he had to look away.
"We're home" he said just as they made it to the entrance to the house. They went inside and remand silent.
-Later That Night-
Ichigo stared at his ceiling and thought about the day's events.
His birthday was tomorrow and he wasn't sure if he was looking forward to it or not. Despite the fact that he had told just about everyone he knew not to through him a party he had a suspicious feeling that they were planning one.
Between Rukia, Urahara, and his father, he had no doubt that one of them, if not all of them, was up to something.
He decided that he should have known better then to tell them not to do something.
The truth was that when he was younger he looked forward to his birthday like any other child. His mother was 'that mom' the one that made sure their child's birthday was the best day of the year. He tried not to think about it, but every birthday seemed to bring up painful memories for him.
And then there was Rukia. This was his first birthday since he had met her and he'd be lying if he didn't want it to be at least a little special.
He remembered the look she had given him when he shot down her party ideas and he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He knew that he never wanted her to look that way at him again.
No matter what happened tomorrow he knew he wanted to tell her how grateful he was to have her in his life. Just how much he would tell her was still up for debate.
After a while he started to become tired and he looked over at his clock. The large green letters read. 12:02
"Happy Birthday" he whispered to himself and drifted off to sleep.
-In The Morning-
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICHIGOOOOOOO!" Isshin Kurosaki yelled as he jumped at Ichigo's bed. He hit the bed with loud thud only to find that it was empty.
"Huh?" he said as he looked around the room for any sign of life. "Ichigo?"
He got up and started to walk out the door only to have someone kick him in the face and knock him to the ground. Isshin looked up to find Ichigo standing there fully clothed and pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Did you think that I'd let my guard down on this day or something!" Ichigo asked through clinched teethe.
"You've... learned well... my son" Isshin said and twitched a few times in pain.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and started to walk down the stairs. It was a beautiful morning and Ichigo was thankful for that. He knew with his luck it could have been a snow storm in the middle of the summer.
He entered the kitchen and was instantly greeted by Yuzu, who was already busy making breakfast.
"Good morning Ichigo! And happy birthday!" Yuzu said happily.
"Morning Yuzu" Ichigo told her and sat at the table.
Karin was already there and she gave him a quick nod. By now the two of them knew each other well enough to be able to communicate without words. She had just told him happy birthday.
Ichigo looked around and noticed that the kitchen felt a little empty this morning.
"Where's Rukia?" He asked to no one in particular.
"She left a little before you got up." Karin answered "She said she had things to do."
Ichigo smirked to himself and tried his best to hide it. He did feel a little down that she wasn't there but he had a pretty good idea of what she was doing.
Just then a plate of food was placed in front of him and he looked up to find Yuzu smiling brightly at him.
"When you finish your breakfast we can give you your gift." She told him.
"Oh umm…alright"
Isshin eventually made it to the room and joined them. Breakfast was fairly quite because other then Ichigo's birthday there wasn't much to talk about. The four of them ate until they were done and Yuzu and Karin left the room for a minute or two. When they returned they had a long gift rapped in brown paper. They both held one end and they placed it on the table in front of Ichigo.
"Open it!" Yuzu shouted.
Ichigo did as he was told and quickly unwrapped the gift. Once it opened Ichigo could tell what it was right away. It was a long plastic bag that had guitar strings in it.
"Wow…guitar strings." He said softly.
"We noticed that you've haven't played your guitar for a long time, so we thought this would give you a push in the right direction." Karin told him.
It was true. Ichigo couldn't even remember the last time he had played it. Between school and all of the Soul Reaper stuff that he had gone through in the past year he just couldn't find the time.
"That's right! Your guitar has just been sitting in the corner of your room gathering dust! You spent so much of you allowance money on that thing and now you don't even use it!" Isshin told him as he pointed an accusing finger at his son.
"Ok I get it" Ichigo said in an annoyed voice.
"And I already made your cake. It's chocolate with white frosting. Does that sound good?" Yuzu asked.
"It sounds great!" Ichigo told her. "Thanks everyone, really"
The rest of the day was completely normal. Ichigo spent most of the day wondering around the house and watching TV. He considered playing his guitar some but decided to do it later. Although he did promise his family that he would eventually put the new strings on it and start playing it more often.
He watched as every clock in the house continued its steady march, but Rukia still hadn't come home yet.
Around noon he decided to walk through the city looking for her. He made sure to bring his Soul Reaper badge with him in case a hollow or anything worse showed up.
The obvious place to look was Urahara's shop, but if she truly was planning a surprise party for him he didn't want to ruin it. So he made sure to stay on the other side of town the whole day.
Eventually he noticed that it was getting dark so he decided to head back home.
Ichigo was surprised to find out that Rukia still hadn't come home yet. It was just about dinner time and he was actually starting to get a little worried, but he tried not to let it show.
Yuzu made as good a dinner as she possible could and the whole family was grateful. Afterwards they had Ichigo's birthday cake and it was by far the best cake he had eaten in quite a while. It was almost perfect, except for the fact that Rukia wasn't there.
Time continued to pass but Rukia still hadn't returned.
Ichigo walked back and forth in his room as he held his arms behind is head and looked at the ceiling. He had made sure to remove the soul candy from Kon's body so that he would have some silence to think things over.
Ichigo glanced at his clock to find that it was almost midnight. He wanted to spend at least some of his birthday with her and now it appeared he wouldn't even get to see her at all.
He concluded that his friends must have actually listened to him and not planned him a party. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. However he did laugh at himself a little because of the pure irony.
At that moment he heard a noise at his window and he turned around with hope that Rukia had finally returned. But all he saw there was a black cat with a worried look on its face. Or at least as much of a worried look that a cat could have.
"Yoruichi-san, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked in a serious voice.
"It's Rukia" the cat said in a matching tone.
Ichigo didn't need to hear another word. He quickly grabbed his substitute badge off of his bed and pressed it against his chest. He popped out of body and left it in an ungraceful pile on the floor. Then in one swift move jumped out of his window and entered the blackness of the night.
Yoruichi followed him and they were both racing threw the cool night air.
"Where?" Ichigo asked her suddenly.
"Kisuke's place" she answered in between breaths. She couldn't believe it but she was actually having trouble keeping up with him. She knew, however, that if she were in her true form that Ichigo wouldn't stand a chance.
After only about a minute of using his shunpo to its fullest Ichigo reached Urahara's shop. He then made his way to the entrance and with one fast move he kicked the door with his right foot and sent it flying into the building.
"RUKIA!" He roared loudly.
When Ichigo looked at the scene in front of him his eyes went wide, his cheeks burned red, and he found it difficult to speak.
There was a banner across the top of the room that read 'Happy Birthday Ichigo' in big bold letters. The rest of the room was decorated with balloons and other party decorations of every color. One of the larger tables in the shop was in the center of the room and Ichigo's eyes drifted down so he could see the people sitting around it.
First was Rukia. Her mouth was slightly open from the surprise of his entrance, and her cheeks were a little red because it was her name that he had yelled with great emotion. Next was Orihime. Her expression was similar although she wasn't blushing at all. Both of the girls were wearing nice dresses.
Next was Urahara. At first his face was full of shock like everyone else in the room but it quickly turned to a devilish smirk that only he could do. Sitting next to him was Renji. He was wearing is usual Soul Reaper uniform and he had slightest less surprised look on his face. Uryu and Chad were sitting at the other end and they both stared at Ichigo with wide eyes. Each of them was wearing a nice dress shirt and pants.
"Um…surprise?" Rukia said softly.
Ichigo tried to say something back but he was having trouble finding the right words. So they all sat there for a few seconds in a horribly awkward silence.
Urahara decided that the poor boy had suffered enough so he broke the silence.
"Wow Ichigo, first my hat and now you've killed my door. What's next?" He asked in an amused voice. The boys in the room all chuckled.
"It's my fault Kisuke" Ichigo heard a voice say from behind him. He looked down and saw Yoruichi walk past him. "I wanted him to get here as soon as possible so I told him a little fib."
She walked smoothly into the room and turned to look at him. "Sorry kid."
"You-you could have told me something else!" Ichigo said franticly. Although he was relieved that he had the ability to speak again.
"Ichigo…" he heard Rukia's voice say and he looked in her direction. She motioned for him to sit next to. He walked over and sat down.
"This is your surprise party. Do you like it?" she asked eagerly.
"Um…yeah I guess" he said while rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry about your door Urahara-san." He said and looked at the man in the hat.
"It's no big deal Birthday Boy!" Urahara said happily and waved his fan at Ichigo.
"In fact I can fix it in a minute or two" Tessai said as he entered the room with a tool box in one hand. True to his word the tall man fixed the door quickly and then served everyone tea. Soon everyone was talking amongst themselves.
"So why are he having my party now?" Ichigo asked. It was fairly late after all.
"Well you told us all that you didn't want a party on your birthday so we waited until the next day" Rukia told him with a smirk on her lips.
Ichigo smirked back and shook his head.
"I think it's time for the presents" a women's voice said from behind them all. Everyone looked up to find Yoruichi standing there in her true form. She seemed to have a satisfied look on her face.
Ichigo concluded that she must have left the room to change back while they were talking. He was also glad that she was fully clothed.
"Your right, who wants to go first?" Urahara announced as Yoruichi sat next to him.
Everyone looked at each other and no one seemed to be in a rush to be first.
"I guess I'll go first" Renji told them all and reached behind him. He picked up a fairly small white box and handed it across the table to Ichigo.
"Thanks Renji" Ichigo told him and Renji nodded.
The orange haired teenager quickly opened the box and pulled out a small clan jar. He lifted the lid of the jar and saw that it was full of some kind of paste.
"It's the stuff that Ikkaku uses. He told me that you seemed to like it." Renji explained.
The room was filled with chattered for a moment and Rukia leaned over and whispered in Ichigo's ear. "It's actually pretty rare"
Ichigo nodded and was thankful that he was friends with the fiery red head.
"Oh and I almost forgot" Renji said and reached behind him. Everyone looked at him as he lifted a white bag up and placed it in front of Ichigo.
"This is from my Captain." Renji said. Everyone's eyes went wide with shock.
"Nii-sama"? Rukia whispered as Ichigo pulled on the yellow string that kept the bag closed. He reached in and pulled whatever was in it out.
He placed it on the table for all to see.
It was a stack of calligraphy paper with a design of flowers in the corner of each page. If Ichigo was perfectly honest with himself, he did think it was nice paper, but it was still paper. Who gave paper as a birthday gift?
"That's my Byakuya-bo!" Yoruichi chuckled.
Ichigo picked up both gifts and placed them on the floor next to him. "I'll make sure to send him a thank you note using some of it" he told Rukia and it made her laugh a little.
"I guess I'll go next" Chad said softly and reached next to him. He pulled out something that was long and rapped in a white cloth. He put it in front of Ichigo and everyone looked at it with curiosity.
Ichigo unwrapped it slowly and his eyes widened when he was done. It was a long wooden spear with a sharp stone point at the end.
"Wow, thanks Chad!" Ichigo said happily.
"I'm glad you like it. It's an Aztec spear that I got the last time I went to Mexico." Chad told him softly.
Ichigo looked at the spear intensely. The young teenage boy in him couldn't help but be overly happy at the fact that he now owned a spear.
The gift giving continued and everyone seemed to be having a nice time.
Uryu gave Ichigo a dark red and blue jacket that he had made himself. Ichigo liked it a lot but that didn't stop him from making one or two 'Mr. Handy Crafts' jokes.
Orihime gave Ichigo a large box of cookies that she had baked herself. He was relieved to find that they were normal chocolate chip cookies, after all Orihime's strange cooking habits had become something of legend in the living world and The Soul Society. Ichigo ended up sharing the cookies with everyone in the room and everyone was thankful.
Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai all gave Ichigo a combined gift. It was a black cloak that had the ability to conceal the spiritual pressure of the person wearing it. The materials to make it were rare, but Yoruichi found them all. Then Tessai used several Kido spells on it to make it work and of course Urahara was the one that put it together. Ichigo was very thankful for this gift because he did have a lot of trouble controlling his spiritual pressure.
"Well it looks like I won't have to teach you to conceal your spiritual pressure then Kurosaki." Uryu said in a mocking tone as he examined the cloak.
"I'm sure your heart broken" Ichigo said sarcastically.
"Well I guess that leaves just one more gift" Urahara said from behind his fan.
Rukia felt all of the eyes in the room move to her but she didn't look up from the package that was sitting in her lap. Ichigo thought she had a sad look on her face.
"Well happy birthday Ichigo!" she said suddenly and placed the gift in front of him. She was trying to sound happy but Ichigo saw right through it. He decided not to make a scene in front of everyone, but he knew he would get an answer from her later on.
"Um…thanks" he said softly as he looked at the blue box shaped package.
He made quick work of the wrapping paper and opened the box. As he reached his hand in everyone in the room moved in a little closer to get a better view. He pulled out what was inside and placed it on the table.
It was a pile of t-shirts, five to be exact. All of them were either dark blue or black and some of them had a design on the front like a tiger or a dragon.
Everyone leaned back and although they didn't show it they were a little disappointed by the out come.
"Wow Rukia these are really cool, thank you" Ichigo said happily and looked at her. She slowly looked away.
"Yeah I guess" she practically whispered.
The party went on for about another hour until everyone realized that it was pretty late and that they should all be heading home. Ichigo said his good-byes and thanked everyone again for the gifts.
Orihime, Chad, and Uryu walked away in one direction and Ichigo and Rukia walked in the other. Both groups waved good-bye to each other and headed their separate ways.
Ichigo had placed all of his gifts in the box that Rukia's gift came in and luckily they all fit, except for Chad's spear of course. Ichigo carried that on his right shoulder and Rukia was at his left side as they walked.
"So did you like it?" She asked him.
"Yeah. It was the best birthday I've had in years" he said back and looked happily down at her. She didn't look up. Instead she kept looking forward with an empty look on her face.
Ichigo sighed. "Ok are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"
"I'm fine" she said bluntly and kept walking but she stopped when she noticed that Ichigo had stopped.
She looked back at him and saw him looking at the ground.
"Just tell me"
His voice was strange to her. It was just above a whisper yet it still felt forceful as if it were a command. It had same anger behind it but it was still soft and understanding.
She knew she was trapped. There was no way she could tell him another lie when he was acting like this. But she did think of a way around it.
"Tell me what's bothering you first" she demanded.
"Huh?" Ichigo said with a shocked face as he looked up.
"You act like you can read me like a book. Well I can read you to Ichigo and I know something is bothering you, so spill it" she said forcefully and crossed her arms.
Ichigo looked away for a moment and looked back. "Fine"
He put the box down and left the spear leaning against the fence that they were next to. Then he walked closer to her and looked down at her with a serious look on his face.
"I'm really happy you threw me a birthday party but it annoyed the hell out of me when I didn't know where you were. I was…worried Rukia" he said and looked into her eyes. Rukia knew that it was rare for Ichigo to openly admit that he was worried about anyone.
They both stood there in silence for a moment as violet eyes looked into amber ones.
"Alright" Ichigo said after a while. "It's your turn."
Rukia took a few steps back and took a long breath. "Did you like the gift I gave you?"
"Yeah it was fine. What about it?" Ichigo said back.
Rukia looked down at the ground. She wasn't sure what her next words should be so she decided to take time so she could choose them wisely.
"Wait" Ichigo said suddenly and she looked up.
"You mean to tell me that the reason you feel so bad is because you think your gift wasn't good enough?" Ichigo asked with wide eyes.
"Yes" Rukia said seriously and nodded.
Ichigo instantly covered his lips and starting to make a strange noise. Rukia wasn't sure what was wrong with him until he uncovered his mouth and filled the night air with his laughter.
"It-its not funny" Rukia said half shocked and half enraged.
"Yes it is!" Ichigo said between laughs.
Rukia closed her eyes and clinched her fist. "I said it's not funny!" she screamed and punched Ichigo in the gut. Ichigo immediately fell to the ground.
He let out a small yell of pain and then tried to catch his breath. "Damn Rukia" he said quietly.
"You shouldn't have been laughing at me" she told him sadly and looked away.
Ichigo's attitude changed to a more serious one as he stood back up.
"I don't know what the big deal is. I already told you I like your gift, I really do." He tried to explain to her.
"You might like it but…it wasn't good enough. Everyone else gave you something that was personal. It was a part of who they are. All I gave you was five shirts that I bought with borrowed money. I just wanted this birthday to be special for you. You've given me so much since we've met. I just wanted to give something back." Rukia proclaimed softly and looked away from him.
Ichigo didn't need to hear another word.
He walked over to her swiftly and turned her around. Then he pushed her against the fence and started down at her.
"You idiot" he said in a voice that made her hair stand up.
"You've already given me the best gift I could ever ask for. Just being by your side is all I need to be happy. Without you it would feel like I have nothing. So you shouldn't feel bad because you think the gift you gave me wasn't good enough, because you give me the greatest gift in the world every second of every day".
After he was done he looked into her eyes again and he felt mesmerized by them.
"Ichigo…" she breathed his name softly. It was like her voice brought him back to reality and he realized just how close he was to her.
He inhaled her scent and his throat went dry. It felt like he couldn't speak. His eyes drifted down to her lips and he couldn't help but notice that they looked like they would taste great. Then he started to move his lips closer to hers.
He didn't hear any objections so he continued to move in closer and closer until her could feel her warm breath on his lips.
Both of them had wondered what it would feel like to kiss each other for a long time now and because they were so close both of there bodies ached with anticipation.
He continued to move closer and closer until finally…
"BEEP-BEEP-BEEP"
Rukia's soul pager started to go off.
Ichigo backed away instantly. "Are you kidding me? There instant a single Hollow all day but there is now!"
Rukia swiftly pulled the source of the annoying sound out of her bag and looked at the screen.
"Actually... there are three of them in the area." She said in a shaking voice. Her cheeks were red from the mere thought of what they were about to do.
"Alright" Ichigo said confidently as he pulled Zangetsu off his back.
Rukia reached in her bag again but Ichigo put his hand over hers. He knew she was reaching for her soul candy so she could change to her Soul Reaper form.
"Oh no you just wait here. I'll finish them off in record time" he told her and smiled.
She looked up at him and smiled back "You better. I'll be waiting"
Ichigo nodded and swiftly took off into the night sky. He was going to end all three Hollows as quickly as possible because he knew that the greatest gift of all would be waiting for him when he got back.
This gift was the hardest to come by in any world and most people spend their whole lives looking for it. This gift was love.
THE END.
Ichigo is so smooth isn't he? :) Well I first wrote this for a contest at deviantart so if it seems familiar that's probably why. Honestly I'm not very proud of this fic, I think its because I was rushed and I don't like having a deadline when I write my stories. Oh well, I like to read reviews to give me some if you feel like it. Laterz.