Title: New Year mishmash
Author: Tuliharja
Summary: Ichigo has joined the Kuchiki family to celebrate New Year at the temple, but things get a bit more complicated when Byakuya orders Ichigo to make sure Tomoyo will stay safe when he is called back to Soul Society for an urgent matter. ByaTomo, UlquiHime, IchiRuki. One-shot.
Disclaimer: BLEACH belongs to Tite Kubo while Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle belongs to CLAMP. I'm merely writing fan fiction. I don't either own the cover art of this.
Author's note: Thank you TheClowningPrinc for betaing this.
.:~New Year mishmash~:.
"Hurry up!" Tomoyo called cheerfully as she turned around to watch Rukia, Ichigo and Byakuya climb the temple's steps to make their prayers for the New Year and watch the fireworks. "We'll be late!"
Sighing, Ichigo wondered for the hundredth time why he had agreed to Rukia's request to spend the New Year's evening with her and her brother plus his wife. He knew Byakuya would watch him like a hawk which would really put a damper on his New Year. His night would be ruined, all thanks to the noble Shinigami.
But it seemed some higher power had answered Ichigo's desperate plea when Hell Butterfly slowly approached Byakuya. The raven-haired man stopped in his tracks and tilted his head, listening intently to the small insect before turning to his cheerful wife. It was obvious from his expression that his wife would be disappointed.
"Tomoyo… I just got call from Head Captain. There is some sort of issue and my presence has been requested…" Byakuya started which made Ichigo cheer inside of his head for a moment, before he saw both Rukia's and Tomoyo's sad faces.
"I… I understand. I'll be waiting for you at the temple," Tomoyo answered, before she quickly rushed back to Byakuya and others, coming to a stop in front of her husband. Leaning slightly, she brushed her lips against Byakuya's who gave her a surprisingly soft smile.
"We'll see you later, niisan. Come, Tomoyo-hime," Rukia told the older woman, taking her hand in her own and the duo continued to climb the temple's steps once again.
Watching them go, Ichigo let out a sigh then yelped when he was pulled roughly backward by Byakuya. The noble gave Ichigo a serious look.
"Make sure Tomoyo stays safe or I'll make sure you'll become the Soul Society's permanent resident," Byakuya threatened Ichigo quietly. The orange-haired teen gulped and nodded his head.
Byakuya then abandoned his Gigai, which Ichigo quickly dragged to the nearest bush to keep it hidden. Sighing loudly, he shook his head, still confused as to why Byakuya couldn't just use soul candy when leaving his Gigai behind. Then again, it wasn't like the people who needed to see him couldn't see him in his soul form. The Gigai was just for regular people to see. Yet this small detail still annoyed Ichigo, seeing as it usually fell to him to take care of others Gigai. Shaking his head, the orange-haired male turned back to the stairs that lead to the temple and realized the two females were missing.
Eyes growing almost comically wide, Ichigo quickly ran top of the stairs just to come to a screeching halt when he saw the path to the temple that was teeming with festival booths, that were selling all manners of goodies, and their patrons. The atmosphere was in a high note, making Ichigo smile unconsciously before he shook his head. Now wasn't time to enjoy the wonders of the New Year's festivity. He had to find Tomoyo and Rukia if he wanted to stay human for the next year.
Scanning the crowd Ichigo spotted a familiar orange-haired female, which made him blink his eyes a few times in surprise.
"I-Inoue?" He questioned aloud. As if she could hear him, Orihime turned around, smiling brightly.
"Kurosaki-kun!" She called out cheerfully, rushing up to him. "I didn't know you would come to this temple!"
"Well, you see-…U-Ulquiorra?!" Ichigo shrieked in shock noticing the blank-faced Arrancar following close behind Orihime. "What you're doing here?! No, wait! How you're even alive?!"
"Oh, you see…" Orihime started, blushing slightly as she took Ulquiorra's pale hand in hers. "I…I…you see…we…we are…"
"Woman, don't stutter. We are on a dato," Ulquiorra deadpanned to Ichigo, who could only stare shocked the duo. Despite Ulquiorra's mispronunciation of 'date', Ichigo still understood.
Blushing even more, Orihime quickly started to shake her hands as if to deny it, but Ulquiorra's stone-like expression read that he wasn't kidding. Leaning heavily against the pillar that lead to the festival area Ichigo studied Orihime with a weak smile before noticing the familiar raven hair of Rukia behind her.
"A-ah! Rukia! Wait!" Ichigo called out, quickly rushing after Rukia and all but forgetting his confusion over the bizarre encounter with Orihime and Ulquiorra. Due to his hasty departure, he didn't hear Orihime's cry of "It isn't like that!" which caused Ulquiorra to give her a slightly puzzled look.
"But…"
"Shut up Ulquiorra!" Orihime squeaked, just to blush majorly from her rude words toward the ex-Espada. The Arrancar stilled slightly, before he silently placed his finger over her lips.
"I think I need to punish you… onna," he whispered quietly to Orihime who blushed bright red, almost passing out from the idea of the 'punishment' that his words implied. She was only glad that Ichigo had rushed away, as it would have been embarrassing if someone had been watching this all unwrap.
Meanwhile, Ichigo had rushed to the middle of the festival area's heart, having already lost Rukia. Gritting his teeth, he let out a small curse about small people before he heard someone clear their throat. He quickly turned, expecting Rukia - because he knew she didn't like it when he called her small - only to sweat drop heavily.
"To-Toshiro…" Ichigo weakly greeted the white-haired captain who huffed his annoyance.
"It's capta-"
"CAPTAIN~!" A high-pitched scream cut Toshiro off before he was pulled into a hug against the huge bust of Matsumoto Rangiku. "Found you~!"
His speech muffled, the white-haired man tried his best to get away from the death grip of his lieutenant as Ichigo arched an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Heeeey…if you two are here together, spending some 'quality time' what was the urgent meeting at the Soul Society?" Ichigo asked with narrowed eyes and suspicion manner while Rangiku blinked her eyes in surprise.
Managing to free himself slightly from Rangiku's death grip, Toshiro lifted his hand up as if to make a point yet was interrupted when Ichigo was hit in the back of the head by a fan.
"OI!" He called out in annoyance, turning around just as Kisuke opened his fan while Yoruichi joined Rangiku and Toshiro. The purple-haired woman pushed a finger to Rangiku's side which was enough to make her free Toshiro. His freedom didn't last long, as Yoruichi took him into her own hug. In the meantime, Kisuke was just looking at them, his fan covered his face while his hat cast a shadow over his eyes. However, it was still plainly obvious there was hint of jealousy swimming in the man's eyes.
"Stop it, Kisuke. We both know it wouldn't have ever worked together between us," Yoruichi told the man flatly while Ichigo looked between the duo with confusion and started to slowly and silently inch away. He didn't want to get caught in the middle of a lovers' quarrel, plus he still had to find Rukia and Tomoyo.
As the substitute Shinigami made his escape, he didn't notice Kisuke and Yoruichi's amused expressions while Toshiro merely sighed. Tapping Yoruichi's arm, he gave her thankful look to which Yoruichi chuckled.
"Good thinking," he praised the duo as Kisuke waved his hand while Rangiku laughed merrily.
"Well, let's go to the temple. The show is going to begin soon!" Rangiku told them all who nodded in agreement.
As the quartet started toward the temple, Ichigo was heading in the other direction. He passed many familiar faces that looked an awful lot like his Shinigami friends which started to make him doubt more and more the urgent call that Byakuya had got. But he didn't dwell too long on it when a shrill scream grabbed his attention. Casting a quick look around he noticed the festival goers didn't seem alerted or panicked.
Huffing, Ichigo quickly jumped behind the nearest tree and quickly exited his body. Throwing the pill that contained Kon to his body, he quickly told the other one to look after it seeing as Ichigo was now in his Shinigami form. Shunpoing, he rushed toward the sound of the scream to see his second worst nightmare come to life: Tomoyo was down to the ground while a huge hollow loomed over her while Rukia was trying her best to keep it away. He knew he would be toast if he didn't finish the hollow and rescue Tomoyo. Byakuya's fury would be terrible.
Without a second thought Ichigo unleashed his Bankai and leaped toward the hollow with a mighty roar. But a shout of "STOP!" made him freeze for a split second before he fell painfully to the ground. Lifting himself up, he watched Tomoyo stand shakily.
"We can't kill it!" She told him. He wanted to argue, but the look in her eyes made him swallow his words. He knew Tomoyo was a miko, thus she had some odd powers, one of which allowed her to see souls.
The purple-haired woman turned to the hollow while Rukia made sure to keep it far from them. Lifting her hands, Ichigo heard Tomoyo start chanting something before a pinkish-white light shot from her hands and began to envelop the hollow. After a long, tense moment the light disappeared, and where the hollow once stood, there was a soul. Blinking in shock, Ichigo looked between Tomoyo and the soul.
"That's my neesan!" Rukia called cheerfully as she approached the soul before sending it to the Soul Society. Rukia turned to Tomoyo, giving her hug which was returned, albeit shakily.
Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief, only to stiffen in fear when he felt a dark aura behind him. Slowly, he turned around to see Byakuya who glared darkly down at Ichigo.
"Kurosaki…" Byakuya growled as Ichigo shook his hands in a desperate manner.
"I-that-you-eh!" He sputtered in fear, fully aware Byakuya could slay him on the spot, but the man's aura quickly changed as his wife ran up and hugged him.
"Byakuya!" Tomoyo greeted him happily while Ichigo quickly made his way to Rukia who chuckled in amusement. "Did you see that?"
"Yes, I did. I'm really proud of you two," Byakuya complimented both Tomoyo and Rukia. The latter of two merely smirked while Ichigo crossed his hands which earned him an elbow to the side.
"So, what was the emergency at Soul Society?" Tomoyo asked curiously, taking a step back from her husband. Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise when Byakuya brought out a huge Admiral Seaweed doll from behind his back.
"This is for you. I wanted to win you something from one of the booths to surprise you, so I lied. I'm sorry," Byakuya apologized. Tomoyo shook her head with wet eyes and a small smile.
"It's alright. All that matters is that you wanted to make me happy… which you did," Tomoyo stated with a delighted smile while Ichigo sweat dropped.
"So, all of this because Byakuya sucks at festival games and needed some time alone to win THAT for Tomoyo-hime?" Ichigo asked weakly, yelping in pain when Rukia stomped on his foot. "Ouch! What the-?!"
"Don't talk about niisan like that, Ichigo!" Rukia scolded him furiously, making Ichigo sweat drop even heavier. Thankfully, before the fight managed to escalate further, the first firework of the evening whistled into the sky before bursting in an array of colors. Ichigo and Rukia, along with Tomoyo and Byakuya, turned their attentions to the night sky and watched with fascination as it filled with burst and explosions of colors and light.
"Happy New Year!" came a sudden shout, and the four turned to see Rangiku and Yoruichi sitting on top of the temple's roof while Toshiro was sitting between with his arms wrapped around their shoulders.
"Happy New Year!" Rukia and Ichigo called back before turning back to the firework show.
Smiling, Tomoyo turned from the colorful lights to her husband to find his gaze already fixed on her. Standing on the tips of her toes, Tomoyo tilted her head up as Byakuya leaned down toward her.
"Happy New Year, Byakuya," The purple-haired woman whispered to her husband before they closed small space between them for a passionate kiss. When they broke a moment later, Byakuya smiled down at his wife.
"Happy New Year, Tomoyo." Byakuya returned, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist and dipping her low before pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
Ichigo merely huffed at the amorous display, before he turned to regard Rukia with a small smile.
"Hey Rukia…"
"Hmmm?" She hummed, turning and freezing in shock when Ichigo leaned down and met her lips with his in a small kiss. Her shock wore off after a brief pause and she responded back, even deepening the kiss.
The magical moment between the duo was broken by spelled word of "Ku-ro-sa-ki-!" Ichigo quickly shunpoed away as Byakuya sent his Senbonzakura after him. Rukia and Tomoyo sweat dropped heavily, before they started to laugh lightly as they turned their gazes back to the sky which still bloomed beautifully with colors.
"Happy New Year!"