The Scarf She Wore

"Kurosaki Ichigo, may I ask what your intentions are concerning my sister?"

Kurosaki Ichigo, the (self-proclaimed) greatest golfer in Karakura, turned away from the front door of his house and looked at the man standing behind him. He recognized the man immediately, as Tousen Kaname was the one to bring him into the big leagues when it came to golf. He was, to put it bluntly, his mentor. And now he currently seemed to be pissed off about something, which, if one were to ask, Ichigo would say that he wasn't really all that surprised that Tousen would be ticked off.

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow, "Do you have a problem with me seeing Halibel? She's her own person, let her do what she wants."

Kaname was standing close enough to hurl Ichigo faster than the eye could blink, "That is not the issue, Kurosaki, the issue we have here is whether or not you are going out with my sister in order to deflower her, or if you have some sort of, how shall I put this?, purer motive."

Ichigo stared directly into the pure white eyes of his sister's adoptive elder brother, his orange eyebrows set firmly in place as he responded, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Kaname-shishou, and I was wondering if you would be all right with my asking Halibel to marry me?"

For once in the six years they had known each other, Tousen Kaname was at a loss for words. After several minutes, however, he nodded his head. "That is fine with me, Kurosaki, but know this: if you do anything to harm her, either physically or by breaking her heart, I will see to it personally that you will no longer have the physical ability to hold a club the rest of your miserable life. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Ichigo gulped, before nodding his head yes.

It was then that a feminine voice rang out, "Ichigo!"

The two men turned to look down the street as the young blond haired, dark skinned woman leisurely jogged her way toward them. She was dressed in a dark black coat and jeans, with the same purple scarf that partially obscured her face wrapped around her neck. She even wore the scarf in the summer!

Halibel came to a halt near the two men, a puzzled expression on her face. "Nii-san," she said, "what are you doing here?"

Tousen smiled at her, "Nothing much, little sister, I was just talking about certain...rules...with Ichigo before you arrived." He shook his head slightly and tsked, "You never told me you going out with Kurosaki, Halibel."

Although the scarf she wore partially obscured her face, the faint blush was still visible on Halibel's face. "I've been meaning to tell you, Nii-san, but I-"

Kaname laughed, "Don't worry about it, Halibel, I'm fine with it. Just don't do anything that you aren't supposed to with him until after you're married, okay?" He then walked back over to his car, motioning to his driver to start the car as he shot over his shoulder, "Oh, and Kurosaki, you'll call me and let me know what happens, won't you? I'll have to set up the arrangements, and it'll be easier to get them done today if I can."

As the car drove away, Halibel turned to Ichigo and asked, "What was that all about?"

Ichigo's face decided then that it would like to betray him and grow scarlet, leaving him rather embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head, before asking, "Halibel, do you remember what we talked about three nights ago?"

Halibel crossed her arms over her stomach and nodded, "I do, Kurosaki. You wanted to know what I wanted to do in the future, what my plans were and whatnot."

Ichigo nodded, before he took the necessary three steps required to become face to face with the blond haired woman, reaching out with one hand to brush an errant lock of her hair back behind her ear. "What would you say to me if I asked you if I could become a part of that future, permanently?"

Halibel stared at the orange haired man, "Ichigo...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Ichigo reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small black box while at the same time getting down on one knee. Reaching out, he gently took one of her hands in his own, "Halibel Tousen, will you marry me?"

Halibel's eyes grew slightly wet with unshed tears of joy, before she flung herself at Ichigo. "Yes!" It was then that they shared a fervent and passionate kiss, taking as much time as they possibly could to enjoy each other.

Possibly the only hamper on the whole affair was the shout from Barragan, the elderly and slightly senile fruit vendor, who shouted out at the top of his lungs, "What the crap?! How'd this scene go from Fight Night to Lifetime?"

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Ichigo's eyes softened as he ended his story, gazing at the partially covered face of his little seven year old daughter. She was currently wrapped up in a blanket that was tucked in over her chin and mouth, but that was only because Ichigo wouldn't let her wear her scarf that she normally wore everyday to bed. Being careful not to wake her, Ichigo placed the small rabbit stuffed animal underneath her arm, and smiled when she unconsciously hugged it closer to her body.

"Lose your audience?" asked his wife, Halibel.

Ichigo kissed his daughter's forehead as he stood up. Walking over towards his wife of ten years, he chuckled softly and whispered, "Well, that was the whole point of having a bed time story, don't you think?"

Halibel smiled softly as she quietly shut the door behind them. "Well spoken argument, my husband. I just came to tell you that you need to be on your best behavior tomorrow."

Ichigo smirked as he hugged his wife, "I'm always on my best behavior, why wouldn't I be?"

Halibel just gave him a look that spoke volumes. "You're way too overprotective when Nnoitra and Neliel's little boy comes over to play with our daughter."

Ichigo let out a noise of disapproval. "Feh. As long as she doesn't date till she's thirty, I guess I can stand the little male brat."

"Ichigo, you know that's not going to actually work out like that, right?"

Ichigo sighed, "Yeah, you're right. But a man can dream, can't he?"

Halibel smiled, "That's right, Ichigo, and in some cases his dreams can come true, isn't that what you told me on our wedding night?"

Ichigo smirked, before kissing his wife on the lips. "I can remember a couple of other things that were 'said' on our wedding night, if memory serves me correctly."

Halibel kissed her husband once again, before saying, "Fix me a Diet Coke, and we may just reenact some of the things that were 'said' that night, Ichigo."

"You're still pissed about me turning down that sponsorship offer from them, aren't you?"

"Yep! But I still love you anyway."

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FIN

AN: I have no real idea where this idea came from. But there you go, an AU fic where Ichigo's a golfer, Tousen was his mentor, Halibel a successful model, and Barragan a fruit vendor that's gone slightly senile.