It was Valentine's Day. And we all know what that means: Candy Hearts, Love Confessions, Ridiculous Gifts, and the annual Soul Society Valentine Party!
The event is sort of like a Secret Santa. At the end of the day on the 13th of February, all of Seireitei gathers for the drawing to see who they must deliver a gift to…
…And reluctantly step forward, one by one, to pick a name from the giant heart bowl in the Squad 1 Barracks.
Even Ichigo and the Karakura group were dragged along somehow.
Now, to the story, where we begin with the part where Rukia explains the event to everyone before they head to Yamamoto…
"…And you step forward from the single-file line, close your eyes, and choose a paper from the bowl. That's pretty much it. Any questions?"
Ichigo raises his hand. "Why are we doing this again?"
Rukia's eye twitches and someone in the background stifles a laugh.
"Because we should get in the spirit of holidays, and enjoy ourselves more." She growled angrily. The clipboard she held with the list of participants seemed suddenly fearful of its handler.
Ichigo held up his hands in mock defense. "Whatever you say, Midget."
Rukia's other eye twitches. You might assume she was having some sort of eye seizure.
"Stop calling me a midget, Strawberry."
"BURN…" someone called from the audience, while Ichigo growled and stood up.
"Whatever, midget."
"Are you even listening to me, Ichigo?!" Rukia yells angrily.
Ichigo sticks out his tongue, followed by receiving a painful kick from Rukia in places… well, that I shouldn't speak of.
"Ah, love birds, shouldn't we be heading over to Old Yama's?" Kyoraku calls, entering the room.
Ichigo stands up again and glares at him. "Where did that come from? Who would love a midget?"
Rukia kicks Ichigo again, resulting in a heap of orange whimpering in a corner. She drags him by the ear to the Squad 1 Barracks with everyone else.
"Kyoraku-Taichou, with all due respect, I have no romantic feelings for Ichigo…" Rukia tries explaining, but is replied with an amused laugh from Kyoraku.
"I have seen what I have seen, Rukia."
Why are you so difficult, Kyoraku-Taichou?!
"…eh?" Rukia stutters.
Kyoraku winks at her, and then joins Ukitake at the front of the crowd.
Ichigo has returned to normal and is currently walking beside Rukia and Orihime.
"What does he mean by that?" Rukia thought out loud, looking at the sky.
Ichigo glances at her. "What?"
Rukia looks away suddenly. "It's nothing. Let's go."
Hesitantly, they return to the front of the crowd, not speaking until they arrived. The bowl in the center of the room was a 10-foot wide pink heart swimming pool of folded paper.
Some participants ran away, and Rukia scratched them off the list.
"Okay, let's get started!" Kyoraku calls. He steps forward, closes his eyes, and picks a paper from the bowl. His eyes grow wide and he grins mischievously, closing the paper and sticking it in his haori. The drunkard captain sits in a collection of chairs for those who had already found out who to give their gift to.
Up next is Hinamori, who closes her eyes and bravely selects a paper from the pool. She had to lean over a bit, and Histugaya seemed a bit anxious.
Hinamori opened her eyes, and carefully picked open the paper she had picked. The Vice-Captain suddenly blushes and runs to her seat, hiding the paper. Hitsugaya raises an eyebrow in curiosity, but says nothing.
Following her is Ishida, who adjusts his glasses for good measure, closes his eyes, and reaches in. He picks a paper and heads to his seat, not bothering to read it.
Time passed until only Ichigo, Rukia, Chad and Orihime remained.
Orihime gulped, and reached forward into the pool, where four papers stayed untouched.
She read hers and frowned in disappointment, sitting beside Soi Fon and Ikkaku, who both seem to be anxious about who they had selected.
Ichigo was next, and Orihime seemed angry somehow. Rukia looked at her in worry, but when she turned around, the girl smiled at her and waved.
Rukia shrugged and watched as Ichigo's face reddened. He quickly headed to his seat.
"…Ichigo?" she questions curiously.
Ichigo looks away and frowns.
She shrugs again, and selects her paper from the bowl… ah, swimming pool.
Ichigo's name was on the paper. Is this rigged or something?!
She sits beside Ichigo, refusing to look in his direction.
Chad smirks when he sits down, and Yamamoto bangs his cane on the solid wood.
"Tonight, we will have all the stores open until dawn tomorrow for your shopping selection. Good luck."
Everyone leaves, some looking nervous, others looking disappointed, even some who were jumping with excitement.
Ichigo walked through the many stores, not taking a single second to ponder Rukia's gift: something Chappy-related.
But as he veered toward the gift wrapping shop, where a line was quickly piling up, a girl who looked questionably like Rukia stared at him.
She walked over, a package in her hands. "Give this to her. In time you will understand why I give you the item in this box. But be warned: you will lose her heart should you not tell her how you feel, gift or no gift."
Then the girl grinned suddenly and laughed. "Good luck to you."
The mysterious woman had disappeared, and Ichigo glanced down at the package. It was nothing special, just a small box wrapped in silk.
"Tell her how I feel?" he could feel his face heat up at the thought.
He headed home, his hands clutching the gift tightly.
A sheet of rain began to fall that night. Ichigo was walking back beside Rukia, who held an umbrella.
"Are you sure you don't need it?" Rukia questions, gesturing to the umbrella above her.
Ichigo has no protection from the rain. He smiles. "No, I'm fine."
Rukia bites her lip, but walks on without a word.
Something's on your mind, Ichigo. Why can't you tell me?
And that's the first chapter. The final chapter will be published hopefully by tomorrow.
Happy Valentine's Day!