A Secret Valentine's Chocolate

"Good morning, Ichigo!" Rukia chimed cheerily as she stepped out of his closet.

Ichigo sighed in irritation but he didn't bother to bring up the subject about "the closet." She would find some excuse to find a way to turn it into her favor.

"What? No good morning?" Rukia asked after she figured he was ignoring her. Which didn't take all that long, "Morning. Happy?" Ichigo grumbled, "Very. So what's today?"

"Thursday."

"Number and month," Rukia persisted as she and Ichigo started to walk on the road to school, "February the fourteenth," He answered neutrally. She stared at him, hoping he'd understand but he said nothing more than that.

"Don't you know what event it is?"

Ichigo gave it some thought. To him, it was just another regular day, "…Valentine's Day?" He asked, "Yes! So what are you going to do to celebrate?"

"Breathe. What else do I do?"

Rukia face palmed right there, "No romantic kisses?"

"Nope."

"No romantic hugs?"

"Nope."

"No holding hands?"

"No. No to all your questions that involve something a couple would do."

"Shame on you, Ichigo. And you mean what a romantic couple would do," Rukia corrected to annoy him.

"Whatever."

"You know, you ought to find a girlfriend. I bet your Dad would be happy if you did."

"Like who?"

"...Orihime?" Rukia suggested though she didn't really want him to go out. After all, she did have a crush on him. He was either oblivious or she was good at hiding it. Probably the first. She expected nothing less from an idiot.

"I don't like her romantically. I think of her more like a sister," Ichigo admitted.

"So is there anyone you like in a more friendly way?" Rukia asked, curious.

"I'd rather not say actually," Ichigo answered after deliberating for a few seconds, "Why do you want to know anyways?"

"Well it is Valentine's Day after all," Rukia covered. So that probably meant that he did like someone since he wasn't giving an uninterested no. Before she could think of feeling anything, she heard a voice call out, "Rukia!"

She turned around to find Orihime running to her, "Good morning Ichigo! Rukia!" the orange-haired girl happily chirped. Suddenly, she turned to Rukia, "Is it alright if I talk to you?" Orihime smiled, "Sure. Well I guess I'll see you later in school, Ichigo," he nodded and then the two girls speeded up their pace to talk alone.

"What is it, Orihime?"

"Well I was wondering if you have any plans after school today." Orihime asked in her cheerful manner.

"I don't believe I have any. Was there something you had in mind?"

"Yeah! See, they have an after school program for the cooking club. They're going to let everyone cook and decorate their own chocolate and you don't even have to be a member! A lot of people are going and I'm positive that it's going to be a lot of fun!" The dreamy teen rambled excitedly. Anyone could see she was already working herself up even though Rukia hadn't given a response yet.

It seemed really appealing to Rukia. She had no plans after school and it would be horrible to ruin her friend's hope, so why not?

"It sounds like fun. Of course I'll go!"

Orihime eyes sparkled, "That's wonderful! I'll meet you in front of the cooking club after school. See you then, Rukia!"

The bluenette nodded. After that, the two walked off to class together. But throughout the entire time, Rukia couldn't help but wait for the school to be over.

~o~O~o~O

Rukia stood close to the cooking club. There was a lot of people and she didn't want to get ran over by a mob so she waited waited patiently until Orihime showed up, "Sorry about that, Rukia! Our sensei was lecturing a student so he released the class late," she scratched her head and laughed shyly.

"Oh it's alright! I haven't waited long. Besides, I totally understand what you mean…" Rukia sighed.

"Well, shall we go now?" Orihime offered.

After some complications of getting through the crowd they found an area for where they could make it together. There was an instructions list on how to do it but they ended up having someone who decided to help them, luckily for now they didn't have to go through the hassle of trying to figure everything out.

The girl who was helping asked, "So what kind of chocolate do you have in mind? Chocolate strawberries? Or just plain chocolate? Or…?"

"I'm going to go with just chocolate," Rukia decided. Orihime picked the other option that was available.

From there on, they melted the chocolate. For Rukia, she placed it in the container that created hearts and sphere shaped chocolates and allowed it to cool off. When it did, she took some icing to wrap thin, perfect circles around the sphere shaped chocolates. For the heart shaped ones, she did the same thing since she didn't want the chocolates to be too sweet.

For Orihime, she went all out creative! After coating all her strawberries with chocolate, she did one with that had nuts. Another one with icing. The next with sprinkles, etc. Rukia was amazed at how she made so many varieties.

When they finished creating the sweets, the girl who assisted them gave them choices of pre-set Valentine's chocolate box. Naturally, Orihime floated to the one with a heart shape. Rukia chose something that was more…..practical as she didn't want to seem too mushy. So a rectangle box it was. They had at least one ribbon on each box and they were pretty Valentine-ish so that would make up for the dullness in the shape. If it was dull.

"Thanks for helping us! We really appreciate it!" Orihime said gratefully.

"It was my pleasure. I wish you both a happy Valentine's," The girl then ran off after the wishing was returned to help other people who was creating their own special chocolates for someone they loved dearly.

"Say Rukia, who do you plan to give your chocolates to?" Orihime asked quizzically.

"I…I was thinking of giving them to Ichigo."

"Aha! I knew it! So you do like him!" She exclaimed.

"Wha-no! Th-"

"You don't have to worry, Rukia! He likes you too!"

"…How do you know that?" The bluenette was sure he wasn't interested in anybody but about what happened earlier in the morning made her think the opposite now.

"I can tell! Plus my intuition never fails me!" Orihime assured. She was a dreamer and dreamers often had amazing intuition.

"Orihime, do you like Ichigo?"

"Me? No, if you mean in a romantic way. I think of him as a kind, older brother."

"He thinks of you the same way. I asked him earlier."

"I see. That's great to hear!" Orihime happily said, "Good luck, Rukia!"

"Thanks. By the way, who are you planning to give your chocolates to?" The bluenette questioned while on the topic of the chocolates.

"I'm going to give them to my brother. I'm sure he would like it a lot," She replied, having a small nostalgic expression on her face.

"I see…I'm sure he would be happy as well."

Orihime gave one last smile before she turned to go to the direction of her home and gave a wave, "Thanks for today, Rukia! Happy Valentine's!"

Rukia waved back and she too, headed back to Ichigo's house.

~o~O~o~

"I'm back!" Rukia chimed as soon as she entered Ichigo's room.

Ichigo took off his headphones and closed the book he was reading and greeted her, "Had fun doing whatever you were doing?"

"Yep! You must've had a lovely time, reading that book all lonesome."

"Ha-ha. Real funny." He rolled his eyes.

Ignoring his comment, she took out her box of chocolates and held it out in front of him, "Here. Happy Valentine's, Ichigo."

He stared at it, surprised. When a second passed, he accepted it and gratefully said, "Thanks, Rukia. Happy Valentine's to you too."

He reached over to his desk and she saw that he too had brought chocolates as well. Incredibly happy, she took it and gave him a quick hug which astonished him more than the box of dark bliss, "Thanks! I really appreciate it!"

He nodded showing that he understood, "Where you anyways? You were gone for a really long time."

"Orihime and I were making chocolates at the cooking club after school. Didn't you know they were letting people do that?" She smirked.

"No, I didn't."

"You really are an idiot," She sighed but it left a happy mark on her.

She smiled to herself. It turned out to be a great Valentine's Day. The chocolates contained her feelings so there wasn't a need to explain it verbally. Ichigo probably didn't realize it though seeing how he tends to miss the obvious but it left her content to the current state of their friendship.

"Thank you, Ichigo. Orihime…"

Authors note: thanks for reading everyone! sorry if it seemed OOC, espcially Orihime xD im not really good when it comes to random stuff ^^;; but i hope you all enjoyed it! :D review? youd make my day! thanks everyone! :D and this fanfic is dedicated to a special someone for Valentine's Day ;D 3