Title: One Day
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Prompt: An eccentric Valentine's Day
Word count: 1083
Summary: Why is Ichigo apparently the only one who isn't going to receive chocolates from Rukia this Valentine's Day?
Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me.
Author's notes: This story was written for the 2010 Valentine's Day GiveAway at BleachAsylum's IchiRuki FC. This one is a slightly edited version due to several grammar mistakes I made in the original. Time does fly, doesn't it? And I'm still as much of an IchiRuki fan as I was two years ago.
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Kurosaki Home
The time was 4.00am but there were already two people up and about in the Kurosaki household.
Ichigo yawned as he ladled the brown mixture into heart shaped moulds.
"They smell good, Ichigo," Rukia said happily as she stood beside him and supervised.
"Tell me again why exactly am I the one making chocolate for Valentine's Day when tradition dictates that it is the woman who gives chocolates to the men in her life," he grumbled.
"But I am giving them the chocolates," Rukia replied, pulling out a roll of paper from seemingly nowhere. "Look, I even made a list of who I'm giving them to. First nii-sama of course, then Renji and Ukitake-taichou, Ishida, Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo. I'm going to give some to Sentarou, Uruhara, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yumichika as well. If Kon behaves, maybe I'll give one to him too".
If Ichigo noticed the lack of his name in the list he didn't say anything. But he did slam the pot into the sink with unnecessary force. "And what do I get for helping you?"
"My eternal gratitude," Rukia said with a saccharine smile. She pulled out various pieces of colored paper and began labeling the boxes. "Go to sleep, Ichigo. I'll wake you up for school in a while".
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Karakura High School
Ichigo sat at his desk as he watched Rukia cheerfully pass the chocolates (which he made) to the boys in class, while they thanked her with various degrees of enthusiasm. Ishida, Chad and Mizuiro had thanked her politely while Keigo attempted to hug her.
Tatsuki dropped an obligatory box in front of him with a curt "Happy Valentine's Day", and he abruptly remembered his father's teary declaration about how much his third daughter cared for him and Kon hugging his nee-san.
It was while he watched Keigo pretending to cry and Rukia pretending to be shocked that he accidentally bit into a leek and bean paste filled chocolate given to him by Inoue.
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Uruhara Shouten
He could still feel the leek on his tongue. Ichigo took another swig of the juice but it didn't help at all.
"My, my, how kind of you, Rukia-san," Uruhara laughed while hiding the lower part of his face behind his fan. "I'll open the senkaimon for you right now. As a matter of fact, I'll give you a twenty percent discount for your next purchase here".
Ichigo sighed as Rukia and Uruhara laughed (evilly) and exchanged loud proclamations of thanks.
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Thirteenth Division
Ukitake-san was as polite as ever as he accepted the chocolates from Rukia while Sentarou grinned his thanks. They stayed for green tea and a chat in which Ukitake-san enquired as to which series of Chappy dolls did Rukia need to complete her collection.
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Eleventh Division
Ichigo made a silent note to never ever join the eleventh division when he joins the Gotei 13 in the future. That day would come sooner or later but if he gets into this division, he would go and beg Byakuya to take him into sixth.
Most of the lower ranked shinigami were groaning in pain on the ground while Ikkaku and Yumichika grinned and needled them.
They also tried to drag Ichigo into sparring with them but he was saved by Rukia who presented them with their chocolates.
"A beautiful gift from a beautiful woman," Yumichika sighed, while Ikkaku thanked her. Ichigo wondered what Yumichika would say if he knew that it was him who made the chocolates.
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Tenth Division
Toushirou was not at his office, but a cheerful Matsumoto accepted Rukia's gift on his behalf and invited them to a sake party later that week.
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Sixth Division
They found Renji deep in paperwork but he grinned when he saw Rukia and accepted the chocolates casually. Ichigo could tell it was already tradition between them.
"Taichou isn't around," Renji said, biting into the chocolate. "By the way, has the quality of your cooking dropped lately?"
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Kuchiki Home
He had only been to the place once, but he couldn't help being intimidated by the sheer size and grandeur of the place. He knew that the furnishings were simple, keeping to Byakuya's tastes, but the grounds and external look of the Kuchiki mansion never failed to impress outsiders.
They found Byakuya in the garden. Ichigo could have sworn he saw a trace of a smile on the arrogant captain's face when he accepted Rukia's gift but he blinked and his face returned to the usual impassive look. He looked instead at the box in Byakuya's grip and noticed that it was bigger and the card was more elaborate than the others. The Chappy picture was drawn with more care and there was another picture that resembled a seaweed next to it.
"I won't be able to join you for dinner, Rukia. But you will get everything you need here," Byakuya said.
"Do you have a date, nii-sama?" Rukia said, practically sparkling in awe.
Byakuya only response was to clap her on her back before he casually walked away.
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Kuchiki Home (Dining Room)
There were no clocks in this room but based on how hungry he felt, he guessed that it was already around 8pm. All that running around Soul Society with Rukia had been tiring. And he didn't even get any chocolate in return.
Rukia had told him to sit there and wait for her. He was preparing to stand up and hunt the large place for her, when the door to the room slid open and Rukia came in, dressed in a simple purple kimono and holding a tray of sushi.
"I made these myself," she said, setting the tray on the table and sitting in front of him. "The cooks were alarmed when I told them I was going to prepare dinner. The clan head's sister isn't exactly allowed to cook, you see".
"W... Wow," Ichigo said, a little lost for words. "They look good".
"And they taste good too," she smiled handing him a pair of chopsticks. "Eat up, Ichigo. I made them especially for you. After that, you can have this for dessert".
She slid a simple box across the table.
"Thanks, Rukia," he said, feeling happiness and contentment slide through him.
"You didn't think I would forget about you, did you?" she smirked.
It was while he ate a piece of the sushi that he realized that he didn't mind spending forever with the woman in front of him.