Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just the plotline.

Author's Note: A vignette with one "bad" word. T for safety, I guess. Kind of sappy at the end. And yes, I know the title is lame. I couldn't think of anything better. D:

OMG. Sourer. I had a feeling it was a word, but, you know, if you stare at it too long, it looks really funny. I was pleased to see that I wasn't going crazy and that sourer really is a word. Huzzah. xD

Rainy Scowls

"Is there a reason why we're still standing outside in the rain?"

Ichigo looked at her through soaked orange locks and scowled deeply. He knew it was his fault, them being drenched and in the cold, but he couldn't wait any longer. Yes, there was a reason why, and he wanted to tell her that reason. He really did. He held back a growl of frustration, his mind subconsciously searching for ways to stall, and avoided direct contact with her calculating indigo gaze.

She shivered and out of instinct, he looked up.

"Are you cold?"

"No, I'm feeling wonderfully warm in this storm," she replied, sarcasm pouring on him in addition to the rain. "Thanks for asking."

Her voice seemed to echo across the empty street.

Why was he here again?

He snorted and shot her a short, heated glare. She laughed in response, throwing the problem back at his face once more. She crossed her arms jauntily and cocked her hip, shooting him an all-too-familiar smirk. He groaned inwardly, half-heartedly attempting to gather his thoughts.

How to tell her?

This, Ichigo reminded himself, was the reason why he always wore a sour look. Life just had to hate him, out of all people. He racked his brain for the pros and cons of him telling her. The cons outweighed the pros, leaving him even sourer than he was just a minute ago.

"Well, fool?"

He frowned. Couldn't she just shut up for a second? He still needed time to think, dammit.

"Hold on a second, will ya?" he mumbled with another scowl etched across his face. He could feel the rain through his drenched uniform, the cold air biting through his soaked clothes. He could feel her eyes on him and tried his best to ignore the fact that her clothes were sticking to her own skin in a way that was rather pleasing to his eyes.

Not that he would ever admit it.

Which, once again, slapped him back to reality and into his current predicament.

It was funny, really, since he hadn't even planned on telling her. It kept on biting away at him though, eating until his patience cut short. His friends didn't help much either, with all their stupid teasing. It also didn't help that she was literally always by his side.

Someone up there must have really hated him.

He gritted his teeth as she began to tap her foot impatiently. Not only was it not helping him but it was pretty damn annoying and the sound splashing sound that was being produced was driving him up the wall.

"Would you stop that?" he snapped. Rukia wrinkled her nose at him but stopped tapping.

"Would you hurry up then?" she shot back tartly, eyes glowering.

"I told you to give me a second!"

"And I'm telling you to hurry up!"

She glared at him fiercely and placed her hands on her hips defiantly. He returned the glare, running a hand through his wet hair in aggravation. He let out a strangled noise of frustration, biting back the urge to tell her to shut up. It probably wouldn't be affective anyway.

Therefore, he did the second best thing that came to his mind.

He swiftly reached forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him and crashing his lips down upon hers all in one quick movement. His mind was racing, blurry thoughts rushing past his head. She responded hesitantly, to his surprise, and when he finally pulled back, he found that both of them were panting hard.

He lifted his head and stared at the bleary gray sky, rain streaming down his face and into his eyes. He closed his eyes briefly and tried to slow the rapid beating of his heart as his breath evened out.

"Shit."

He looked back down and found his companion touching her kiss-swollen lips in a slightly dazed fashion, confusion painted across her pale face. She blinked out of her stupor and raised a delicate eyebrow at him, crossing her arms once more. He could feel his cheeks flushing in embarrassment and had to suppress the urge to scowl in his flustered state.

"Look, Rukia, I'm really sorry—"

"Sorry? Sorry for what, idiot?"

He felt her punch his arm lightly before weaving her small fingers through his larger ones. Her indigo eyes met his in a soft gaze. He didn't reply, but tightened his grip on her hand and allowed her to lead them back to his house. She turned her head to look back at him as she dragged him forward and smiled.

"That's what I thought."

end.