Tonight is the night I've been waiting on for several days now; the night that drives every guy insane with nerves. My palms were sweaty, and my heart was beating a little faster than normal. Each breath was becoming a little shallower than the last, and my throat was as dry as a desert.

"Calm down," I said to myself. "There's nothing to worry about, everything will be fine. It's just a night out with Rukia."

"Ichigo?"

My body tensed immediately at the sound of her voice. I turned slowly to face her, only to freeze once again. I felt my jaw drop slightly as my eyes widened at the sight of her. She was wearing a sleeveless black velvet cocktail dress, a thick, white ribbon tied around her waist. Her hair was half up, half down and her face was slightly dolled up with make up. She looked absolutely beautiful.

"Wow….you…look…amazing." I said, blushing slightly.

She smiled. "Thanks. You all set?"

"Y-yeah," I stammered, unable to take my eyes off her. "Let's get going."

XXXX

"Mini golf?"

"Yeah. I hope that's okay," I said to her.

"I guess it's okay…"

"You guess?"

"I've never played before, that's all."

"It's not hard. Trust me, you'll have fun."

"Well…alright. If you're sure."

"All you have to do is hit this ball with enough force to fall into the hole at the end of the green. Here watch, I'll show you."

I made my way over to the first hole and positioned myself so that I was facing sideways. I gripped the club tightly, took a deep breath, and swung…with a little too much force. The ball went flying through the air, bouncing off objects as it went.

"Ichigo, look out!"

"What for-" I said, before getting hit square in the eye with my flying golf ball.

"That…" she said, holding back a giggle.

"Right," I said, covering my eye with my hand.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Rukia said.

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel that way too," I said, my eye now watering in pain. "Let's just go to dinner."

XXXX

"Nice place you picked, Ichigo." Rukia said to me sincerely.

"My dad suggested it to me. He said he brought my mom here on their first date." I explained.

"Attempting to make it a tradition, are we?' she teased.

"Not exactly," I replied. "I just wanted to take you somewhere nice, and I didn't know where to go. So I asked my dad."

"Well, this place is definitely a good one." She said.

I smiled at her. "Well thanks."

I leaned back in my chair and relaxed. Other than the golf ball incident, things were going well.

"How's your eye?" Rukia asked.

"Sore," I replied. "But still functioning."

"Good," she said with a smile. "Glad to know you're not blind."

"Yeah," I said with a chuckle.

Rukia laughed but soon stopped when a familiar beeping sound came from inside her purse.

"Oh no, not now!" she said.

"Is it a hollow?"

"Looks like it," she said, staring at her cell phone screen.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said, jumping up from my seat and bumping into a waiter, causing him to spill the drinks he was carrying onto Rukia.

"Oh…crap." I said.

Rukia remained in her seat, a stunned look on her face. She was completely soaked from head to toe, and it was all my fault.

"Rukia…I…I'm so sorry." I stammered.

"Ichigo…we need to go. Now." She said calmly but sternly, her face turning red.

"Right," I said, my cheeks warming up from embarrassment.

XXXX

"Take this, you bastard!" I shouted as I sliced the hollow's head clean in half, killing it with a single blow.

"Nice work," Rukia said from behind me.

"Thanks," I said, placing Zangetsu on my back.

"Well, it's getting late. Why don't we just head home?" she said to me.

I sighed. "Rukia, look, about tonight. I'm really really sorry about all that happened. I was trying so hard not to mess things up, and I guess the universe was against me."

"Ichigo, it's alright. I know you wouldn't intentionally try to mess things up. I could tell you were nervous, and so was I. Besides, when have things ever gone smoothly for us? Just look at it this way, you'll have a chance to redeem yourself on our next date."

"Next date? You mean you still want to try being with me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something like that," she said, getting back in her gigai. "Now can we please go home? I really want to get this tea out of my hair."

I laughed before returning to my body.

"Yeah, let's get you cleaned up." I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulder as we walked towards my house.