Title: Snow & Hearts

A present for Fate and Love on FLOL who was my Secret Santa. I do hope you'll like it.

The minute I read your prompts I knew what I wanted to write. And no, I won't be paying for any potential dentist bills that may arise after reading this. And terribly sorry for its shortness!

Ichigo may come across as being OOC but I think that if (and when) he'll seriously fall in love with Hime, hes gonna be the sweetest guy ever. And more importantly, its Christmas time y'all! So take the fluff and forget the OOC-ness for this lovely holiday!

Last but not least, thanks to Thail for boosting my crumbling ego 'cause I didn't think I had done a good job.


~3 days before Christmas~

"….Is he making what I think he's making?"

"Yep."

"Its for Hime-nee?"

"Who else?"

"I thought onii-chan took a part time job to get her a present. So why is he...?"

"I asked him. He said, and I quote, 'Is there some rule that a guy has to give his girlfriend just one present on Christmas?'"

"………Never pegged onii-chan for being such a romantic."

"I still can't believe that he managed to get Orihime-chan as his girlfriend. She's a high level babe and he's…well…not in the same category."

"Karin-chan! That's not a nice thing to say about onii-chan."

"Just trying to make the point that she was a bit out of his league. But I'm glad though. I can't remember the last time he was this happy."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Blissfully ignorant of his little sisters staring at him, Ichigo went about his task with determination and as much speed as he could manage given his freezing cold hands. He eyed the shape in front of him critically and decided that the left side was definitely bigger than the right side. He crouched down and collected as much snow as he could fit into both hands before pressing them into the snow sculpture he was making.

A part of him still couldn't believe that he was going to do something so cheesy for his girlfriend but he knew that she would truly appreciate the gift (and knowing her, she would definitely attempt to take the sculpture home with her and try to fit it into her freezer). As the snow continued to dampen his gloves, his fingers started to ache in the cold weather as he continued to pat and shape the snow. He grimaced at the sharp pain that started to run through his fingers. He clenched and unclenched his fist, raising his fingers up to his mouth and blowing his warm breath over his fingers before moving back to the shape in front of him.

He took a step back and eyed the sculpture again. This time the shape looked proportional. With a nod of satisfaction, Ichigo turned around to look for the butter knife he had brought with him only to find his sisters standing at the window and staring at him. He scowled as his cheeks filled with a light color as he asked a tad embarrassed, "What?!"

Yuzuru quickly darted away from the window while Karin gave him a grin and a thumbs up before following her twin sister. Ichigo stared for a moment at the empty window and then back at the figure he had made. Was it really that weird what he was doing?

Maybe he shouldn't have gone to Rukia for advice whether he should really do this or not…

~2 days before Christmas~

"What'd Goat-chin do this time to tick Ichigo off? I could hear his yells all the way to the front."

"Otou-san saw what onii-chan wrote on the sculpture."

". . . . Goat-chin tried to tackle him didn't he?"

"Even managed to break off a bit of the sculpture from the side."

"Well that explains Goat-chin's loud yelling."

"I think we should stop onii-chan before he really hurts otou-san."

"Let them be. You know their fights never last for more than ten minutes."

"Yes but…otou-san never broke Hime-nee's present before."

"….I'll get the first aid kit."

~Christmas Eve~

"Please Tatsuki-chan?"

"For the last time Orihime, you can't add wasabi into the frosting!"

"But it'll be really tasty!"

"We're making sugar cookies Orihime."

"……."

"Tell you what. Put some of the frosting into this smaller bowl and add in the wasabi. You can use that frosting to make some cookies for yourself."

"Myself? I shouldn't give them to Ichigo-kun?"

"I…don't think he's that keen on spicy…food."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"So anyways, are you going out tomorrow with him?"

"I'll be having lunch with Ichigo-kun and his family tomorrow. I ordered a chocolate cake from the bakery nearby that I'm going to take with me along with these cookies."

"But didn't you say that he asked you to come over early?"

"He said that he wanted to show me something."

"Oh did he now?"

~Christmas Day~

"How much further?"

"Just a little bit more."

Orihime stumbled slightly and Ichigo's grip on her hand tightened as his other hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Careful. We're almost there."

Orihime nodded and let him lead her. She wondered what Ichigo wanted to show her that could warrant her having to wear a blindfold. She was already just barely managing to stop herself from fidgeting in nervous excitement as her boyfriend led her into the backyard. She raised her free hand to tug at the fluttering end of the blindfold around her eyes, "Can I take it off yet?"

"Since when were you this impatient?"

She pouted at his amused tone as he let go of her hand to grasp her by her shoulders. "I'm not impatient. I'm just excited."

A light shiver passed through her as his whispered words ghosted over her ear, "You can take it off now."

Orihime tugged the cloth off, squinting slightly as light filled her eyes. Her gaze fell on the snow sculpture right in front of her. Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she stared at the giant snow heart in front of her. She turned around to look up at her very anxious boyfriend, her own heart pounding away in nervous excitement.

"Do you…mean that?"

The smile along with the light blush on his cheeks made her want to kiss him right there and then as he softly said, "I do. I'm sorry it took me so long to say it."

She could feel the tears starting to form and hastily wiped them away before they could fall. She gave him brilliant smile, "Thank you. This is…the best present I've ever gotten."

His smile widened into a grin, "Then you don't want the other gift I got for you?"

"The heart wasn't the present?"

"Well that was just one. Your actual Christmas gift is on the heart."

"…on the heart?"

"Go take a closer look."

Giving her boyfriend a curious and slightly skeptical look she stepped closer to the snow heart. Her eyes darted over and around the carved kanji, wondering what she supposed to be looking for. A sudden glint on her name caught her attention and she stepped closer to the sculpture.

Puzzled, she stared at the thin golden chain dangling between the letters before gently tugged at it. She gasped at the heart shaped pendant that was dangling between her fingers, the clear stones reflecting the soft sunlight.

"Do you like it?"

Her fingertips gently traced over the pendant as she softly requested, "Will you please put it on me?"

Ichigo stepped forward, taking the pendant out of her fingers and for a moment, forgot what he was supposed to do with the pendant as he stared at the skin exposed at the back of her neck as Orihime pulled her hair to one side. Clearing his throat, feeling slightly embarrassed he unclasped the chain before slipping it around her throat.

She shivered at the feel of his rough but gentle fingertips brushing against the nape of her neck. She had to bite her lip to keep the small moan from spilling out when he traced the closed clasp and chain as he whispered, "All done."

She raised her hands to rest over his arms as he hugged her from behind, placed a gentle kiss on her head and repeated the words he had carved into the snow heart.

"Ai shiteru Orihime."

'Ai shiteru' is the strongest way to say "I love you" in Japanese.

Aw hell that was so damn mushy. Hope I didn't kill anyone with this one. Though a part of me just choked and died on all the fluff.

Merry Christmas everybody!